Revenant Assassin: Renegade
by RockinGamer
Summary: After a mission goes wrong, Aero Kalo is betrayed by the Assassin's Guild and turns to the only people he knows outside it: four Huntress's he met on said mission that went wrong, team RWBY. Now, he must protect them and go after the Guild to destroy it before they kill anyone else. Part II of the RWBY: Revenant Assassin Trilogy.
1. Another Day in the Office

H **ey guys, glad to see you're reading part 2, chapter 1! So, pretty much, this and the next chapter set up a lot of things, so I hope you guys enjoy! Also, this will be where I do the messages, because at the bottom will be a preview of the next chapter. As I said, I hope you guys enjoy and I'll see you next Monday for chapter 2!**

* * *

Chapter 1

"Yeah, good times, especially that little apartment we called home," Aero Kalo said, breathing in the cool autumn air and smiling to himself as he looked at the gravestone. He had been sitting on the grass for what seemed like ages, but it didn't bother the 44-year old faunus one bit as he smiled and ran a hand through his salt and pepper hair, brushing past his similarly colored bat ears.

"I don't believe I ever gave you the finer details about how I met Ruby, Yang, Blake… and my wife… Well, it's kinda funny actually."

* * *

 _21 years ago_

The figure, clad in black, looked down through a glass roof at the guards walking around the office space. Three floors, thirteen guards, all of them armed with a variety of swords, pistols and assault rifles. He opened the window, tied a rope to a pipe that was expelling smoke, tied the end of the rope around his waist and looked down one last time. His armament barely made any sound as he quietly clicked his tongue and closed his eyes. With his closed eyes, he saw the echo his tongue created, bouncing off soldiers and the inner environment. He mentally marked their positions and grinned to himself.

"Aero, you almost ready?" he heard in his ear via a receiver.

"Just about," he said into a small microphone in front of his lips in his usual calm and slightly deep tone as he closed his eyes and breathed in slowly.

"Good, lights will being going off in one minute. Your target is on the ground floor, in an office behind the guards and near a vault. You're gonna have to find the right hallway and move through to the target."

"What's the matter Seb, too lazy to tell me where to go?"

"No, more 'Why don't you go and discover this place for yourself,' dickhead."

"Ah yes, I've always wanted to discover an office space for myself, so fascinating," Aero said as he shook his head.

"10 seconds," Sebastian said as Aero opened his eyes in time to see the lights go out. A guard near the railing looked around and called down to his friends, questioning what was happening. Aero lowered himself down slowly, cut the rope with one of his throwing knives and crouched down. He approached the man from behind, taking out an eleven inch, slender blade that was sheathed on the small of his back where another, similar blade rested. He put his left hand around the man's mouth and dug the blade into the surprised guard's chest. His eyes widened as he looked down at the hilt of the blade, his life leaving his eyes as Aero helped lay his body down. He clicked his tongue again quietly and closed his eyes, revealing the locations of every other guard, including the target, via the echo.

"Jim, you there?" he heard to his right as he quickly turned, grabbed a throwing knife from his belt and threw it at the guard, the blade sliding into the man's skull cleanly. The guard fell back as Aero heard his radio come to life again.

"Staircase to your left, then four guards on the second floor."

"What happened to letting me discover it for myself?"

"Don't make me lead you to a bunch of heavily armed guards," Sebastian said, making Aero shake his head. He moved left and located the door to the staircase, sheathing his blood soaked short blade and drawing one of his two silenced pistols from his double shoulder holster and aiming it down the staircase. He clicked again, spotting a guard and instantly shot him in the head, dropping the guard before he could spot him. He moved down the staircase and opened the door to the second level, his eyes beginning to adjust to the darkness as he made out the shapes of two guards talking to one another near the railing. He formed two fists that triggered two blades, one on top of each arm, extending five inches past his knuckles. He approached the two guards and swiftly thrust the blades into the back of their necks, instantly killing them as he removed the blades, allowing them to slump to the floor.

He continued on, crouching and spotting another guard walking around until his radio came to life.

"Anyone find the damn breaker box?"

"Still looking for it sir."

"Well find it and hurry up, I can't do the rest of these calculations with the lights out."

"Could just use your scroll as a light."

"What was that?"

"Nothing sir."

"Focus soldier," the guard in front of Aero said into his radio before Aero grabbed the man's head and twisted it, cleanly breaking his neck in two.

"The hell was that?" Aero heard, causing him to run to an office and take cover behind a desk.

"Aero, I got one moving to you, get the jump on them," he heard as he leaned out, spotting the guard approaching the dead body.

"Dave, are you fucking napping?" Aero heard him ask aloud as he threw a knife into the man's throat, who clenched his throat and gurgled. Aero ran passed but quickly took cover as the dying man made to much noise, bring attention to his fellow guards.

"We got someone in here!" he heard a guard say from the ground floor as Aero cursed to himself, grabbed the stock of his sniper rifle, which was behind his right shoulder, and pulled it out. In the past month Aero had been training and using the sniper rifle to give himself more options during missions, something he greatly appreciated, especially now. He aimed down the sights and shot one in his chest, causing the guards to turn and open fire with their weapons. Aero moved back and took cover at another column, bullets chipping away at the one he was at.

"Aero, not trying to rush you, but the light will come back on in five minutes and they have a guy at the breaker box."

"Copy," Aero said as he inhaled slowly, turned and got another shot off, the bullet cleanly impacting a guard's forehead and spraying the wooden wall behind him in his blood and brains as they fired at Aero. He looked down and saw a guard preparing a grenade, causing Aero to holster his sniper rifle, take out his short blade and jump down, plunging the blade into the guard's neck. The guard yelled as his soul escaped his body while he let go of the grenade, allowing Aero to toss it to another and watch it explode, sending shrapnel into two more guards. Aero sheathed his short blade, crouched behind a wall with plants on top of it, gripped the smooth rod that was latched onto his right thigh and flicked it to the right, allowing a 27-inch steel blade to slide out.

He stood up slowly as he heard a guard panic loudly until the lights came back on. He moved down the wall and leaned slowly, spotting the guard and going back into cover. The guard looked around in panic, allowing Aero to run around the corner, catching the guard off guard as he slashed, delivering a deep gash to the guard as Aero plunged the sword into the man's chest, finishing him.

The last guard came out from a door to the right of Aero and immediately opened fire at him. Aero ran, slid to a bench, grabbed a throwing knife and quickly tossed it, striking the guards shoulder. He cried in pain as Aero ran to him, slashed vertically then horizontally, ending the man as he reclaimed his throwing knife and ran to the door the guard came out of after returning the rod to his thigh, hitting a button on the bottom of the rod to collapse the blade. He kicked it open and ran down the intricate hallway, adorned with a wooden finish, multiple paintings and vases as he came to a door and kicked it in to a man in a business suit. The man looked at Aero in terror, taking in the five foot ten assassin adorned in black, including a mask that covered his mouth and nose, leaving only his golden eyes and short, dark blue hair open for anyone to see.

"L-Look, I don't k-know who you are, but I can pay you good money," the man said as Aero walked over to him and slammed his forehead into the desk. The man groaned in pain as his eyes slowly moved up to the top of Aero's head, noticing the small bat ears that stood four inches tall on top of his head.

"You're a faunus…" he said as he looked with hatred at Aero, "How dare you!"

"How dare I? How dare you, Mr. I'm-going-to-suggest-legislation-to-certain-politicians-in-Mistral. Said legislation, which would lower the status of faunus kind in the kingdom. And you ask how dare I…"

"Yes I do! How dare you, you filthy bat, come in here, kill my guards and then think you are going to get away with this!"

"Do you even know why I came?" Aero asked the man, who immediately tensed up as he looked at Aero's armament.

"Okay, now hang on son, we can work out a deal."

"You really want to work a deal out with the filthy bat?" Aero asked as the man went pale. Aero kicked the man's seat, making him fall over to the ground and looked up at Aero.

"Okay, okay, hang on! What can I buy you for?!"

"I have no price Mr. Cheo. You wish for faunus' to be of a lower status here in Mistral and you have nine as your own personal slaves, hiding them from the public to keep your façade," Aero said as he placed the sword on the man's neck.

"How do you know all this?!"

"I have my resources."

"Please don't! I have a wife and a daughter!"

"And what about those faunus's that you want to hurt or have hurt? What about their families? Did you ever even consider that?"

"No, because your kind are bel-AHHH!" he yelled as Aero stabbed him in his left shoulder one of his short blades.

"We are not below any species. We are equal to humans in every way, hell, we are the better ones yet we let ourselves be pushed around.

"And what makes you say your kind is better?!"

"Jeez, I don't know, look at all the guys I killed then get back to me."

"I'm going to have you killed you monster! I have contacts! I know the guilds! They will help me take you down!"

"Funny, I'm a member of the assassin's guild," Aero said nonchalantly, causing the man to widen his eyes in further panic and reach for the hilt of the short blade as Aero drew one his light blue tinted pistols.

"Please! Don't do this!"

"But, if I don't, then you'll go ahead and pay off some politicians to get the bill passed."

"I won't, I swear!"

"See, you say that now, but I know how you lot are," Aero said as the man began to rebuttal again, but was silenced by a single bullet to his head from Aero. The assassin looked over the man in his late 40's and shook his head as he removed his short blade and slid it into its sheath.

"Sebastian, mission complete, send in the crew," he said into the headset as he turned to the desk and looked at photos of the man with his wife and daughter. Aero sighed and shook his head, ran a hand through his hair, lowered his mask and rubbed his clean shaven face while returning to the lobby, where a cleaning crew was already taking care of the bodies. Aero spotted his handler and walked over to him as he was telling a few people where to dispose of the bodies.

"There you are Sebastian."

"Sup Aero, great job," the young man said with his gruff tone along with a smile as he turned to Aero. Sebastian Damper stood an inch taller with dark blonde ruffled hair, a five o'clock shadow barely visible on his dark skin and brown eyes that contrasted his orange t-shirt and red jeans.

"Appreciate it, though I admit I didn't think the guards were gonna see me."

"Agreed, but it happens," Sebastian said, turning to his friend of nine years and looking him over, "You okay?"

"Just sucks for his wife and daughter, you know?"

"Yeah… then again, no, not really. He was a dirty bastard, so I'm sure she'll find someone else. Besides, the accounting firm is in her name in his will, she'll be fine as will the daughter."

"Yeah, financially."

"That's all you can do sometimes."

"Hm… Anyway, how are you guys going to clear it up?" Aero asked as he sat on a bench while a member of the cleaning crew handed him his missing throwing knives.

"We'll patch his body up and throw it in front of a car. It'll look like he didn't look both ways, which kills a lot nowadays."

"Oh I'm sure," Aero said as he cleaned his blades slowly, "What's my next assignment?"

"Shouldn't you take a day or two off for proper rest?" Sebastian said with concern at Aero, who looked at the man and shrugged.

"I could, but what's the point?"

"Oh I don't know, getting proper rest, which is what I just said?"

"Meh, don't need it," Aero said with a tired smile that Sebastian reciprocated.

"So, just one mission left now, right?" Sebastian asked as he sat next to Aero and pulled out his scroll, looking over a report from another assassin.

"Yeah, thank God," Aero said, patting his friends shoulder, a smile coming to Sebastian as he continued to read. The two of them had become fast friends when Aero joined the guild nine years ago, Sebastian himself born into it because both his parents were assassins. Since then, they had been on nearly every mission together, with Sebastian always being Aero's handler. Being five years older than Aero at 28 meant that he doubled as a big brother figure for Aero, which Aero didn't mind, especially when it came to certain decisions. Those decisions included helping the White Fang recently only kill those that were mercilessly hurting faunus kind in the kingdoms. Even after teams RWBY and JNPR from Beacon had taken down Roman, Cinder and her associates two years ago, people still had a hard time dealing with faunus', even if one helped end the criminals.

"Seriously though, let's get to the last guy," Aero said to his friend, who sighed and shook his head as he whistled, causing a cleaner to approach him with a suitcase. Sebastian took it and grabbed a manila folder from a back pocket, which he handed to Aero, who flipped through it.

"Alright Mr. Kalo, you're next target is in Vale. He's been selling faunus' around the four kingdoms and sells arms, including to those that are linked to homicides against your kind. Questions?"

"When and where."

"Two days and I have the perfect idea for where."

"Go on," Aero said, waiting to hear this grand plan from his friend.

"Well your target likes music and is attending a concert for the Vav's at a venue. Here's the thing: it's also open mic night and their allowing any and all indie bands to perform."

"Oh no Seb, don't tell me-"

"You, me and Lila pose as a band, we get in, you kill him and we slip away."

"You're fucking with me, right?"

"What is wrong with this plan? I've been playing guitar for a few years now, Lila and you have decent voices-"

"Geez thanks."

"Just saying. Besides, it'll be fun, the three of us on a mission," Sebastian said, closing his eyes and imagining the plan in his head.

"Uh huh. Lila cool with it?"

"She is."

"Alright, fine, we'll do it your way," Aero said, shaking his head as Sebastian celebrated, "If only so that I can be done with the White Fang, I don't want to work with Adam anymore."

"Don't blame you at all man. Come on, let's go catch our airship," Sebastian said, standing up and walking away with Aero hot on his heels. It was time for them to go back home, relax then make preparations for the next target.

* * *

 **Lila and Aero walked to his room, where Aero flipped a light switch near his bed. From underneath his bed slid out a chest, which opened up to reveal Aero's full arsenal: his sword, collapsible baton, two short blades, two hidden blades, his pistols, his sniper rifle and assault rifle.**

 **"Damn Aero, I don't have nearly as much," Lila said as he walked up to the chest and looked over his weapons.**

 **"Yeah, but you know me, being prepared for any and all," he said as he grabbed a pistol, his baton and the hidden blades.**


	2. Bombs Away

**Ah man, Volume 3 is gonna be so cool! Winter and Qrow voiced by Major Kusanagi and Qrow by Edward Alric! Great choices! Okay, anyway, back to the story. It's coming along well (working on 5 right now) and I've had to do a lot of re-writes because things didn't sound right or flow right. However, it is coming together along nicely and it seems like y'all are really digging it, thanks for the positive reviews and those that have already favorited it, it makes me feel awesome! Also, Crusaders now has over 10,000+ views! Yay! THANK YOU TO EVERYONE! Anyway, preview for next Monday is at the bottom, tad bit shorter this time but I think you guys will like it. Also, shout out to Kyle Andrews, Cinema Sleep and Lady Gaga for awesome songs that set up this chapter! Have a good week and I'll see you guys next Monday!**

* * *

Chapter 2

Aero and Sebastian entered their apartment in Mistral, throwing their things on the couch in front of the moderate TV they owned in their light blue living room and walked into the adjoining kitchen. There they found their friend cooking dinner for the three of them.

"Ah, glad to see you guys are okay," Lila Evergreen said in her light voice to the two of them, stirring a tomato sauce as both Sebastian and Aero hugged her.

"Thanks Lila. Where's Vincent?" Aero asked, referencing her boyfriend of a few months, as he looked at what she was cooking.

"Back at HQ for a meeting," his friend of nine years replied with a smile that Aero returned. The two of them had been part of the same recruitment group and had quickly become fast friends and better partners during missions. Lila was wearing a black long sleeve shirt, dark green slacks and had her brown hair in a short ponytail as her orange eyes stared at the food that she was cooking.

"Damn that looks so good."

"And smells just as good," Sebastian said as he set the table, "Thank God you can cook or me and Aero would be so boned."

"Hey, I can make a mean macaroni and cheese."

"Oh, okay, so we wouldn't be able to shit properly if you cooked, still bad," Sebastian retorted, Lila laughing as Aero punched him in the shoulder.

"Whatever smartass," Aero said, bringing the tomato sauce to the table across from the yellow kitchen as Lila brought the chicken, "So, what is this I hear that you want to start a rockband young lady?" Aero joked.

"Young lady? I'm two years older than you."

"Don't take that tone with me!" Aero yelled, the three sharing a laugh and enjoying the cooked food as they chatted about recent news and other things going on in their lives.

"Seriously, though, Seb said you're in for this idea for my next mission."

"Oh yeah. I mean, come on, who hasn't dreamed of having their own band and touring Remnant? Of course, it helps that I'm a huge fan of the Vav's."

"Of course," Aero replied, shaking his head as they continued to eat, "One question remains: Who's doing what? Because Seb said he can play a guitar, which I doubt-"

"Hey!"

"Just saying. We need a singer, couple of guitarists and drummer. Not to mention songs to play."

"Well, I was thinking about that when you guys left," Lila began, wiping her mouth with a napkin, "One, we could pass as a cover band, thus no need to write lyrics. Two, we could grab some instruments and strum them but play the song in the background."

"Making it look like we're playing when in reality it's the song."

"You got it. And I think we could all pass for singers… possibly. We just need to pick the right songs."

"How many songs can we play?"

"Up to five," Sebastian said, looking over something on his Scroll.

"How about we do three? Each of us picks one and is the lead singer for it, the other two play whatever instruments they have to," Lila said, Aero and Sebastian liking the idea.

"Okay, let's pick songs then we'll get a few instruments. It's in Vale right?" Aero asked with Sebastian nodding his head in response, "Then we have to get out of here by tonight."

"Agreed," Sebastian said as the three got up, put the dishes up and went into the living room, where Lila stopped and looked at the two of them.

"Really guys? Just throwing your shit on the couch?"

"It was just for a quick minute Lila," Aero said quickly, grabbing his stuff, knowing full and well Lila's anger when it comes to their apartment being dirty. Aero went into his and Sebastian's room and threw his gear on his bed, looking around the dark green room and closing his eyes, relaxing and laying on his bed. He pulled his Scroll out, plugged in his headphones and started listening to music, trying to find a song to play. He listened for nearly an hour before grinning as an indie rock song blared in his headphones. He got up and walked out to the well-lit living room to find Sebastian and Lila listening to music as well, both having lists next to them. Aero shook his head as he left the apartment quietly, leaving a note for them as he walked in the capital city of Mistral, taking in the sights and sounds of a kingdom that looked both old and new, a kingdom he had fallen in love with after leaving his home of Atlas. Aero soon found a music store, bought instruments and equipment then slowly and cumbersomly returned to the apartment, were Lila and Sebastian were still listening.

"The fuck guys, really?!" he yelled so they could hear him over their music. The two turned to their friend, looking at him as he hauled a large bag on his back, two guitars with straps hanging off his shoulders and in his hands were a couple of amps.

"Oh, hey Aero," Sebastian replied.

"Oh hey?! I'm gonna kill you Seb," Aero said, setting everything down and shaking his head as he forcibly moved Sebastian over so he could sit on the couch, breathing heavily and rubbing his arms as Sebastian patted his shoulder.

"Don't touch me Mr. oh hey," Aero said with a smile, Sebastian chuckling at his friend as he handed Aero a list.

"I told you we were all gonna go get instruments."

"You know me, I just wanted to get them."

"Uh huh. These are the songs we're doing. You first, then me and lastly Lila. Lila's song has a perfect moment for us to kill the lights, allowing you to get through the crowd, kill him then get back on stage. Also… uh…"

"What?"

"Lila has apparently already picked our band name."

"It's Indigo Connect," Lila said with a smile.

"Oh come off it," Aero said as Lila's smile disappeared and glared at him.

"What's wrong with it? I thought of it when you guys left and I even got matching outfits."

"Oh boy, can't wait to see those," Aero said, leaning back to avoid Lila's gaze.

"Well, everything is set. Go get your weapons and let's head out," Sebastian said, getting up and looking over the instruments as Lila and Aero walked to his room, where Aero flipped a light switch near his bed. From underneath his bed slid out a chest, which opened up to reveal Aero's full arsenal: his sword, throwing knives, collapsible baton, two short blades, two hidden blades, his pistols, his sniper rifle and assault rifle along with a hefty amount of ammunition.

"Damn Aero, I don't have nearly as much," Lila said as he walked up to the chest and looked over his weapons.

"Yeah, but you know me, being prepared for any and all," he said as he grabbed a pistol, his baton and the hidden blades.

"I'll go grab a couple of my own," Lila said as she walked next door to her room and grabbed her own blades and a couple of throwing knives from a large wardrobe she had next to her bed, "Need anything else?" Lila asked Aero as the two walked out of their rooms.

"Did you pack apple slices for lunch?"

"Of course dear."

"Thanks mom," Aero said in a joking tone, the two nudging each other as the three grabbed the instruments and walked out, ready for the next mission.

* * *

"Oh come on Weiss, cheer up! This will be fun!" Ruby said loudly as her and her partner walked down the sidewalk flanked by their teammates.

"Okay I will just calm down!" Weiss shouted back at her friend, making Ruby giggle as Yang and Blake observed with smiles on their faces. Since their graduation and take down of Cinder and Roman, team RWBY had enjoyed successful Hunts, helping the people of Remnant while maintaining many of their friendships, especially with team JNPR.

"Cheer up Weiss, you know how Ruby is," Blake said, patting her friends shoulder, "Besides, we all know how much you like the Vav's."

"Yeah, we can hear you singing the songs whenever we head to missions," Yang said with a grin, making the heiress stare at her, her friends chuckling at her as they approached the arena on the outskirts of Vale. The building itself was a dome that housed multiple events throughout the year and could seat 30,000 people and matched Vale's classic look.

Ruby was wearing her combat boots, black leggings, a red skirt, a black and grey long sleeve shirt and her red cape, her hair still the same as it had been when she started at Beacon. Yang had maintained her hair length and wore dark yellow shorts, brown boots, a yellow crop top and a rust colored light scarf that draped around her neck and shoulders. Blake had forgone her bow after the fight with Roman and Cinder and wore black tights, matching high heels and a dark purple shirt. Her hair was in a ponytail that reached the middle of her back and her silver wedding ring, with two diamonds in the middle, from Sun glistened in the setting sunlight. Weiss still had the off-kilter ponytail and the tiara and wore white slacks, white heels and a light blue buttoned down long sleeve shirt. Each wore different amounts of makeup with their colors to accentuate their features and carried their weapons as a force of habit, making some turn their heads as they made their way inside.

"I'm getting drinks, anyone want any?" Yang asked as she took out a lien card.

"I'll have whatever you have," Blake said with a smile.

"Nah, I'm fine, what about you Weiss?" Ruby asked her friend, who shook her head, allowing Yang to walk away. Blake walked ahead of the two with their tickets, allowing Ruby to talk to Weiss.

"Hey," she said, nudging her partner, "you okay?"

"Of course," Weiss said, looking straight ahead at Blake, who was looking up at the signs that hung from the ceiling, pointing in the directions of the different sections.

"Weiss," Ruby responded quietly, nudging her friend again, who looked at her with tired ice blue eyes and sighed. In the three years since graduating from Beacon, Sun and Blake had gotten married while Ruby and Scarlet had started a relationship, both helping the team take down Cinder. Yang had enjoyed adventuring on her own, however Weiss had been different. Multiple times she found Neptune had been cheating on her and was constantly flirting with other women and partying. Eight months ago she had finally ended it and had remained quiet on the subject matter, reverting back to the coldness she exuded when she first arrived at Beacon seven years ago.

"Ruby, I'm fine," Weiss lied, the two walking up to Blake, who was holding a door open for the two of them. The three walked into the inner arena, taking in the noise from the people already seated, taking pictures and talking to one another. The stage for the concert was set up and at the far end, the mosh pit in front already filled with people. The area behind the stage was closed off and the remaining seats in the others decks around the arena were filling quickly.

"Let's see… section 113, row M, seats 17-20," Blake said to the other two as they walked around slowly, moving out of the way as others went to grab food and drinks.

"Man this can't start soon enough," Ruby gushed, a faint smile coming across Weiss's lips as they found their seats. Soon enough Yang returned with three beers, two for herself and one for Blake, which they both drank as they chatted about life while Ruby tried to get Weiss to open up.

"Maybe we could get dinner or drinks soon."

"Where at?"

"Um… You can choose, you know the good places," Ruby said with a chuckle as Weiss nodded her head, "Talk to me Weiss."

"What is there to say Ruby?"

"I… We know you're hurting Weiss, why do you think Yang and I got these tickets?" Ruby said, staring at her friend and waiting to continue until she stared back, "We want to cheer you up. We just want our old friend back, not the girl that felt alone and questioned her teammates when she was at Beacon," Ruby finished. Weiss sighed, looked down and nodded her head.

"I know Ruby and I'm sorry. We can have dinner next week. I'll do my best to enjoy myself tonight," Weiss said with a smile that Ruby took and smiled ecstatically at as she turned to her half-sister and joined her conversation with Blake. Weiss had appreciated what her friends had done and would take Ruby to dinner, yet she knew it would do little. She knew she would need time for herself and would that time soon, yet she would do her best to enjoy her night with her friends.

* * *

"Damn it all, we still don't have a fucking drummer," Aero said, groaning aloud as he leaned against a wall in a hallway behind the stage. Two groups had already performed in front of them and another was starting to wrap up its performance. All three knew they needed a drummer as pretending to play a guitar was easy, a drum was a lot harder and knew they would actually need someone to play, thus why they got the drum set. When they had arrived in Vale yesterday they sent out an ad for a drummer, hoping someone would reply quickly yet no one had replied.

"Well, we can tell the crowd 'hey, none of us know how to play the drums, deal with it,'" Sebastian said.

"We could," Aero said, leaning out and looking at the celebrating crowd. Aero had streaks of indigo in his hair, torn jeans, boots and a black and indigo shirt along with indigo fingerless gloves that went to his elbow. Lila wore an indigo wig with a matching dress and grey flats. Sebastian walked over to Aero in an indigo jacket, white shirt, jeans and boots, fake purple hair dye in his hair and Lila's. He stood next to his friend and took a picture out as Lila thumbed a few chords on a guitar.

"One Henrik Maza," he said as Aero took the photo from his friend's fingers and studied it then moved to the end of the hall to study the crowd. The man he was looking for had a tan complexion with brown eyes and matching hair. They both looked until Aero narrowed his eyes in the mosh pit.

"I see a guy flanked by another in rocker gear. The first guy looks like him," Aero said, pointing at the man so Sebastian could help him.

"That's him, one of the files we have said he owns a beige jacket, which looks to be covering his shirt," Sebastian said, nodding as Aero went to one of the guitar cases and popped it open. He took the guitar out gently, set it to the side and took out his equipment, sliding his hidden blades on top of his forearms and locking them in place, his gun in the back of his pants and his baton behind his right thigh.

"Fuck we have to go up in a few minutes," Sebastian said, standing next to Aero as he looked over everything until the two heard a squeal. Said squeal was in delight and was the third of their group hugging a man tightly, who was laughing and returning the hug. The man she hugged was eight inches taller than Lila, four inches taller than Aero and wore an ensemble that Aero couldn't help but stare at.

The man appeared in his late thirties and had short brown hair that was partly covered because of a golden crown he wore that had jewels in the spires. He had green eyes and wore a black suit jacket, white undershirt that was buttoned up and red and black plaid shorts. He had a grin on his face as Aero walked over to him with a curious look while Lila took a snapshot of her and the man with her Scroll.

"Hey man, Jacob," Aero said, holding his hand out and shaking hands with the man.

"Sup, I'm-"

"How do you not recognize the drummer of the Vav's, the Mad King?!" Lila asked in a shocked tone.

"Sorry if I don't know band members!"

"Ah it's fine," the Mad King said with a smile, "Sorry for coming over and interrupting anything, I just couldn't help but overhear some guys saying that you all need a drummer."

"Know someone who can help? We had a guy but he ditched a month ago and haven't been able to get a new one since."

"Actually, I would love to help," the Mad King said with his deep voice, shocking the three, "I need a proper warm-up. What songs are you guys playing?"

"These three," Sebastian spoke up, handing him the list of songs.

"Nice! I know these three pretty well. You guys ready to rock?"

"Oh man, there's no way we can ask you to-"

"Jacob, dude," the Mad King said, gripping Aero's shoulder, "Chill, it's cool."

"This is so amazing!" Lila said, getting a guitar and jumping in excitement as the four of them stood at the bottom of a set of stairs behind the stage, ready to rock the crowd.

* * *

"Excuse me," a man said to Weiss, catching the attention of Ruby and her friends as the current act walked off the stage, "pardon me, but are you guys Team RWBY?"

"That we are. What about it?" Weiss asked with a raised eyebrow, making the young man nervous as he continued.

"I-It's just… uh, two of my f-friends got sick so the rest of us are heading out. Would you want our m-mosh pit tickets?" he asked, holding up five tickets with a shaking hand. Weiss turned to her friends for an answer.

"That's a helluva stroke of luck, I'm in," Yang said with a smile.

"Why not, the mosh pit always seems like fun," Blake said as Ruby nodded her head.

"We'll take them, thank you," Weiss said, grabbing the tickets and getting up while the rest of the team thanked the young man and were directed where to go. They had to walk around to a set of stairs, taking them to the ground floor and straight to the mosh pit. They moved their way around while staying together, trying to find a good vantage while four people came out, clad in varying amounts of indigo while the fourth was someone Ruby recognized.

"Is that the Mad King?!" Ruby said with excitement.

"It totally is!" Blake said, returning the excitement as the front-man, a bat faunus, stood in front of a microphone, a guitar resting in front of him thanks to a strap on his shoulder.

"Are you guys ready?!" he said, getting a roar of applause from the crowd, "I'm Jacob and these are my two best friends Jules and Sylvia and we are Indigo Connect! Special shout out to the one, the only, Mad King from the Vav's for being our drummer this evening!"

The crowd erupted in a frenzy at the Mad King, who waved to them and twirled drum sticks around in his hands as he sat in front of a set of drums. Aero looked at Sebastian, who nodded his head as he hit a switch in his pocket, playing the instrumentals of the first song, making it seem as if Lila and Aero could really play their guitars while Sebastian actually played his. The Mad King began beating his drums as Aero moved around, strumming chords but no music playing from his guitar while Lila pumped the crowd.

" _Run away,_

 _There's a bomb in the back of my head,_

 _And if you stay,_

 _You might end up cleaning up the mess,"_ he began, shocking Lila and Sebastian at his singing voice, which sounded surprisingly good while he continued to strum his guitar, enjoying playing as a rockstar as he got into the mood for the chorus.

" _Tonight,_

 _I'm going straight straight for your throat,_

 _No you don't even know,_

 _Whats coming,_

 _Whats coming next!"_ he yelled into the microphone, feeding of the crowds energy as he stared at his target while singing the chorus. They finished the song with a small drum and guitar solo, receiving a loud ovation from everyone, including team RWBY. Aero and Sebastian switched places, all eyes now on Sebastian who didn't say a word but instead immediately played with the Mad King, turning to the drummer and playing his guitar. He jumped in the air and landed in front of the microphone, immediately going into the first verse.

" _The glint in your eyes,_

 _The warmth and the light,_

 _Is everything you love,_

 _Burning right before you,_

 _The warmth, the light,_

 _Is everything you love,_

 _Burning right before you,"_

The crowd was feeling the energy brought by everyone, especially after Lila and Aero played their guitars in front of one another, nodding at one another and grinning from ear to ear as they made it through the rest of Sebastian's song, getting another loud ovation from the audience. Aero removed his guitar and made a waving motion with his finger to a helper offstage, who rolled out a DJ table and keyboard and listened as Aero whispered him instructions.

"Alright, alright, I know how much you guys love rock and I'm right there with you," Lila began in her light voice as the crowd got quiet to listen, "But what about a little bit of pop huh?" she asked as the beat dropped on her song.

 _"I stand here waiting for you to bang the gong,_

 _To crash the critics saying 'Is it right or is it wrong?'_

 _If only fame had an IV, baby could I bear,_

 _Being away from you, I found the vein, put it in here,_

 _I live for the applause, applause, applause_

 _I live for the applause-plause, live for the applause-plause,_

 _Live for the way that you cheer and scream for me,_

 _The applause, applause, applause,"_

She kept singing and was joined by Aero, who was dancing around her and kept getting the crowd excited, going to the DJ table and keyboard and messing with them. Both the Mad King and Sebastian were feeling the beat and enjoying the song as Aero went back to Lila and danced with her as she sung until she hit the bridge, which killed the lights.

 _"Touch, touch_

 _Touch, touch now"_

Aero closed his eyes and clicked his tongue, getting back thousands of people and faces, looking over them and continually clicking his tongue until he saw his target, who had moved around from when he first spotted him. Aero slipped off the front of the stage as the song slowly picked up steam again, pushing past fans, some trying to stop him to take a photo with him. He lightly shoved them aside as the lights began to come back on. Aero ran forward as Henrik and his friend stared at Aero in fear. Henrik turned and ran, his friend standing in Aero's way as Henrik pushed by people, shouting for them to move aside.

Aero ran to his target's friend, ducked a punch and kneed him in the gut. The man went down gasping for air, looking up in time to see Aero's fist collide with his temple, knocking him out. Aero turned and saw people moving out of Henrik's way while staring at him as Lila finished her song. He charged forward, bulldozing people out of his way as Blake heard what was happening via her cat ears, turned and witnessed Aero bulldoze people down.

"Guys!" she yelled so her friends could hear her and pointed at the assassin. They all moved forward, Ruby using her semblance to race after him. Henrik continued to run until Aero leapt at him, using his shoulder to launch him and his target into a large janitor's closet. It was a spacious closet with equipment to the right and shelving with multiple chemicals and rags to the left. Both got up but Aero got to him first, punching him in his side, his stomach then grabbing his head and slamming it onto the shelving. Aero breathed heavily and shook his head, engaging his blades and standing over the groaning man.

"Sorry Mr. Maza, but you wanna screw with my people, you get- UGH!" Aero began then yelled as he was sent against the back wall, shaking his head as he looked with anger at who had attacked him, looking Ruby over and sighing

"Oh you gotta be fucking with me."

* * *

" **Alright, fuck this," Aero said as he collapsed his baton, the other three getting up slowly as he put his baton behind his thigh and drew his pistol. He cocked it and aimed at Henrik's head, who cowered in fear as Aero put his finger on the trigger. Just as he disengaged the safety,** **Aero felt a surge of coldness on his right foot that traveled up his shin and the right side of his body until it got around his hand, encasing it and the gun in ice. Aero looked in sheer amazement and turned around to see Weiss holding Myrtenaster, a trail of ice from her foot to his.**

 **"Oh come on!" he yelled as he banged his encased hand against the shelving, trying to shatter the ice.**


	3. Between a Scythe and a Target

**Hey guys! Short message this week: thanks again for all the views, follows, favs, etc. I'm glad you guys are liking this story! Bad and good news: my last year at university starts next week (shoot me now). Good news however is that I'm plowing through this story and will post Chapter 4 Friday! Hope everyone has a great week and I'll see ya Friday!**

* * *

Chapter 3

"Who are you?" Ruby asked as she took out Crescent Rose, Aero's eyes going wide at the large scythe that barely fit in the room.

"Uh… better question: what the fuck is that?" Aero asked as Ruby swung with her large red and black scythe. Aero moved back as Ruby moved forward, applying pressure with her swings, her scythe leaving deep cuts on the walls. Aero kept moving, waiting until he saw his moment: Ruby swung and switched hands on her scythe, allowing Aero to move in with a straight jab to her stomach. Ruby stumbled back at the quick blow as Aero moved in, punching her stomach again and her shoulder to make sure she couldn't get a proper attack off. Ruby swung wildly, cutting shelving apart as Aero moved around and landed blows. Aero kicked her leg, bringing her down to her knees, giving the assassin the chance to bring his knee to her chest, knocking the wind out of her and to the ground. He breathed heavily as Ruby groaned until quickly shifting Crescent Rose to its sniper rifle form.

"The hell?!" Aero exclaimed, moving in time to avoid a shot to his leg and kicking her wrist to get the sniper rifle out of her hand, Ruby wincing at the shooting pain the kick caused. He turned back to Henrik, walked over to him and got on one knee. Right as he was about to drive a blade into his targets heart, the assassin was suddenly flung into the empty wall again, rubbing his forehead as someone grabbed his shoulders and violently turned him around. His vision cleared to a blonde woman with red eyes, her face showing anger as she growled at him, tightening her hold on his shoulders, causing Aero to start wincing from the crushing pain. Aero stared at her, taking her and Blake in, who was checking over Ruby.

"She's okay Yang, just bruised," she said. Yang turned to answer, the moment Aero waited for and immediately kicked Yang's shin, shaking loose of her grip and kicking her square in the chest. Yang backpedaled as Aero applied more hits to various parts of her body. Yang quickly countered, landing blows of her own, some almost knocking the wind out of Aero as he went back on the offensive with kicks, landing multiple blows until landing a roundhouse to her cheek.

Blake moved in with her sword and cleaver drawn, Aero prepared with his hidden blades and blocked multiple strikes with them, finally moving back and disengaging his blades, allowing him to pull out his baton. He moved back in, both easily moving their bodies around as they swung their weapons, predicting moves and trying to counter one another. Blake landed a hit to his chest then a kick to his cheek, spinning him around and into a vacuum, tripping him. Blake pounced on top of him, landing a punch before Aero smacked her arm with the baton, sending a stinging pain through it and giving him the chance to push her off. The two quickly got back up, Aero landing stinging blows to Blake until she pushed him back, trying to pin him to a wall but failing as he whipped around, landing a blow to her stomach with his baton. Aero whacked her on the back, her shoulder and wrist to knock her cleaver out of her hand then kicked off the empty wall and landed a punch to her cheek, stumbling her back and onto the floor.

"Alright, fuck this," Aero said as he collapsed his baton, the other three getting up slowly as he put his baton behind his thigh and drew his pistol. He cocked it and aimed at Henrik's head, who cowered in fear as Aero put his finger on the trigger. Just as he disengaged the safety, Aero felt a surge of coldness on his right foot that traveled up his shin and the right side of his body until it got around his hand, encasing it and the gun in ice. Aero looked in sheer amazement and shock, turning around to see Weiss holding Myrtenaster, a trail of ice from her foot to his.

"Oh come on!" he yelled as he banged his encased hand against the shelving, trying to shatter the ice. Weiss attacked at once, blasting him back into the wall, his right side still partially encased in ice. Aero tried to get up and managed to shatter the ice around his hand however his pistol was smacked away by Ruby and was punched square in the nose by Yang, breaking it and making his head whip into the wall. Aero vision blurred as he made out the shape of Blake kick him.

* * *

Aero came to a few moments later, laying on his stomach, his head facing the brown boots of Yang, who looked down at him. He slowly got up on all fours then moved himself against the wall, sitting on the floor and wiping the blood away from his nose. Aero looked up at Yang, Blake and Ruby staring at him while Weiss talked with Henrik, making him shake his head and sigh.

"What's wrong?" Yang asked.

"You guys should not have saved him," he said, pointing to Henrik.

"Oh, and why's that?" Ruby asked, looking down at the assassin.

"Because of what he's done to my… our," he said, changing when he looked at Blake and spotted her cat ears, "kind."

"What do you mean?" Blake asked, looking over at Henrik as Weiss walked over to her friends.

"Well, are you guys gonna believe me and let me show you without trying to hurt me?"

"We already removed your weapons so you can't really try anything," Weiss said, motioning to his pistol and baton resting on a shelf.

"Still didn't answer my question."

"Try anything and you're getting a face full of shotgun," Yang responded, extending her gauntlets up her forearms to show Aero what she meant.

"Got it," he said, holding his hands up and slowly getting up, "Well, one of you can grab my Scroll in my front pocket."

"Ruby," Yang said, motioning to the leader of the four member team. She moved forward and grabbed the Scroll sticking out of his front pocket, opening it thanks to instructions from Aero. He directed her to the set of files on his Scroll on Henrik Maza that Sebastian had given him two days prior.

"Read it out loud for everyone."

"Henrik Maza… evidence shows he has judges and lawyers in his pocket. Known trader, large investments… captured and sold faunus'… sold arms which are linked to faunus homicides…" Ruby said, her voice trailing off as Blake looked at Henrik, who backed against the wall.

"Is that all true?" she said with anger, approaching the man with her fists curled while everyone watched.

"W-what?! N-no, not a-at a-all!" he said, holding his hands up as Yang turned to Aero.

"How can we trust you? How do we know all of this is real and not fabricated? How did you get your hands on this information?"

"In no order whatsoever, my handler got it for me and he confirmed all the information is real. What can I do to show you guys that you can trust me?"

"Who are you?" Weiss asked, stepping forward.

"I can't tell you guys that."

"What about who you work for?" Ruby asked.

"Can't say that either," Aero said, shaking his head as he kept his hands up.

"Then let Mr. Maza go, we have no reason to believe him," Yang said to Blake, who glared at the man. Aero sighed as Ruby turned to him.

"What do you want? You don't want to tell us anything."

"It's not that I don't want to, it's that I can't say anything or I'm a dead ma… well, actually…" Aero said, looking down and thinking then looking around the room and at the ceiling. Henrik tried to walk away but was stopped when Blake put a hand on his shoulder. Aero looked at the four of them and breathed slowly with his mouth as he wiped the blood away resting on his top lip.

"For the love of all that is good, please don't tell anyone what I'm gonna tell you four, okay?" Aero began. The four friends looked at one another then nodded their heads in agreement as Aero nodded his head.

"My name is Aero Kalo and I'm the top assassin in the Assassin's Guild. Mr. Maza is my target. As of right now I'm working with the White Fang, doing twelve missions for them, this being the twelfth, after which I'm done with the White Fang."

The four looked at Aero then turned to Henrik Maza, who looked at them nervously.

"Come on! Are you really going to believe him?!" he yelled as Yang turned back to Aero.

"Why couldn't you tell us all of this at first?"

"The Guild will literally and most likely kill me for telling you four all that. However, I don't see any audio devices or cameras, which is why I've decided it's worth the risk. And I fully apologize for fighting you four and injuring you guys; I appreciate what Hunters do even if my Guild doesn't."

"Appreciate it Mr. Kalo," Blake said, turning back to Henrik, landing a punch to his stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Henrik wheezed in pain as Aero looked at her.

"Anytime Ms… ?"

"Mrs. Wukong. I'm sure you already know these two because we called their names out," Blake said, motioning to Ruby and Yang, "and the last of our team is Ms. Schnee."

"Glad we are all courteous and know one another now. So, can I kill him?"

"No, he's going to prison," Weiss said to Henrik, who was curled into a ball.

"He'll get out in a couple of weeks," Aero responded, finally lowering his hands and putting them in his pockets, "Let me kill him and he won't hurt any more families."

"We can't let you do that Aero, we have a duty, which is to to protect people at all costs," Ruby said. Aero shook his head as Blake hauled Henrik Maza to his feet and shook her head at him.

"Alright, well, I'm not fighting you four, I would get my ass handed to me for sure. So, have fun taking him to jail," Aero said walking over to his gun and baton, hiding both on his person again and turning back to the four.

"You're lucky we don't take you in too," Blake said.

"Not a good idea because they'll probably come for me and will kill anyone in their way. Trust me, I'll get fully punished... they'll make sure I get punished."

"We're sorry Aero, but he has to face proper justice," Yang said as Aero nodded his head, quickly telling Ruby how to transfer the files he had over to her Scroll.

"I understand. Good luck out there with the Grimm," he responded.

"Thanks. Good luck with… well, not with killing but-"

"Staying alive?" Ruby asked, making Aero chuckle.

"I'll take it. Thanks for believing me, I'm shocked you guys actually did."

"Well, you were honest with us," Yang said with a shrug, "If someone is honest about themselves, why wouldn't you believe them?"

"Fair enough," he said as Weiss returned his Scroll. The four left with Maza, his arms behind his back. Aero closed his eyes and leaned against the wall, breathing slowly and then opening his eyes to a figure clad in a white trench coat with blue accents, a hood pulled over to hide his green eyes and black boots. The figure was leaning on the door jamb exiting out to the arena but Aero already knew who it was and knew he couldn't put up a fight.

"Eli," he said to the figure, who approached and pulled his hood down.

"Aero."

"How much did you hear?"

"Practically all of it. I was here enjoying myself until I heard of someone chasing another person down and knew it was you. You know how dead you are?"

"Very," Aero said quietly as Eli patted his shoulder and tugged on it, leading him out from the janitor's closet.

* * *

"What in the hell were you thinking Aero Kalo?!" Varis, the grandmaster of the Assassin's Guild, yelled at the young assassin who was in the middle of the arena on his knees and handcuffed, his broken nose bandaged. Varis was also the eldest member of the Guild and was in his late 50's, which was reflected in the wrinkles on his face and the white of his hair. He wore a golden robe with purple outlines that covered his entire body and represented his status of grandmaster. His hazel eyes stared down at Aero in pure anger, Aero staring up at him with the same emotion as fellow members looked on.

"I was trying to get my target anyway possible Varis."

"That's Grandmaster Varis to you Aero. Now we have four Huntress's that know about the Guild's existence."

"And?"

"And?! What do you mean and?!"

"What's so bad about this Varis? People were going to find out eventually!"

"How do you know Aero?!" Varis bellowed, jumping down from his elevated position and walking to Aero, standing mere inches from him, "Every other assassin has made sure not to be so idiotic in the field and our secret has remained for over 30 years. And yet, here we are because of you."

Varis held his hand out and a heavily armored guard came forward with a sword in a sheath, stopping next to the grandmaster. He took the sword out and held it firmly in his hands, swinging it around slowly as Aero watched.

"Do you know what this sword is for Aero?"

"Let me guess: to kill those against the Guild?" he replied, Varis chuckling at the response.

"Oh yes," Varis replied as he rested the edge of the sword against Aero's neck, "It is also my personal sword. I want you to understand something: if you step out of line one more time Aero Kalo, this will be cleaving into your neck. First the incident with Cardin and now this: you are on very thin ice," Varis said, sheathing the blade and handing it back to guard and turning around.

"You are hereby suspended from all missions for three months. You will help your handler Sebastian Damper by gathering information on targets for fellow assassins. When you are off your suspension, you are to hunt down and eliminate those Huntress's immediately. Understood?"

"Can't do that Varis."

"Oh?" he said, grabbing the hilt of his blade again, ready to take it out.

"Yeah because I'm extending my 'saves' to those four and all of their associates since I'm still number one," Aero said with a grin. Varis yelled in anger as the arena erupted in in chatter, assassins shocked at what he had just said.

"Damn it Kalo! You cannot do this!"

"Oh I can, considering the fact that there is nothing in the rules preventing it. What happened is my fault, they should not be punished or killed for it. And for you to say that I need to kill them shows all the faults in the Guild."

"How dare you!"

"How dare you tell me I need to go and kill Huntress's when they are the protectors of our world! What will happen if they die Varis, hm? What will happen when you order more dead later down the road? Are you going to go out in the field and take down Grimm?" Aero asked, Varis falling silent as he stared at him with rage blaring in his eyes. Varis breathed out slowly and shook his head, motioning for a guard to un-cuff Aero, who did so, allowing the assassin to get up and stand toe-to-toe with the grandmaster, having three inches on him.

"Keep this in mind Aero Kalo: I have the power of the entire Guild. I can make your life hell and I can do as I please," he said quietly so only Aero could hear him.

"Oh, so you're letting the power get to you? I guess that old saying is right: absolute power corrupts absolutely," Aero snapped back quietly. They stared at one another until Lila tugged on Aero's shoulder, pulling him away from the grandmaster and out of the arena.

"Aero what the hell were you thinking?" Lila said, leading him from the fifth floor to the third floor which is where the handlers worked in the Guild. The large central tower of the Guild, which was hidden in a mountain in Atlas, housed all the different areas of the Guild, from training and eating to the Board and where the assassins slept.

"They deserve the saves Lila. Come on, you, Seb and I know how Varis is letting power get to him. This was the slap he needed."

"I was hoping someone else would slap him so that we could all get off easy," Lila said as she and Aero approached Sebastian, who embraced his friend.

"I can't believe you did that. You're lucky you're still number one mate. Holy hell everyone is talking about it."

"Good," Aero said, moving his nose around and wincing at the pain. He took a seat next to Sebastian in front of a dual monitored computer and rubbed his forehead.

"Hey, these three months will fly by," Lila said, patting his shoulder.

"Yeah, but I need to watch my back," Aero said and elaborated on what Varis said to him before his friends could question it.

"I'm not shocked, but hey, you got me watching your back," Lila said with a smile that Aero returned.

"Something tells me we are not going to be here for much longer," Sebastian said, looking at Aero, who returned the gaze and nodded his head slowly and sighed.

"Well, I guess that means we have to prepare for the worst."

"Guess so. I gotta go meet up with Vincent, keep me updated, okay? And don't give me any bad intel," Lila said with a giggle that Aero copied before she walked away. Aero began to look over a screen full of information on a target and began to copy it until he noticed that Sebastian had written something on a sheet of paper.

 _Think they'll try something?_

 _You know how Varis is._

 _You thinking what I'm thinking?_

 _You know it Seb, time to prepare._

* * *

 **"From the Guild?" he asked, the figure nodding his head in response,** **"Well, you can try."**

 **"Not just me Kalo," the figure said, pulling his hood down to reveal a tan human with dark blue eyes. Both looked up as sounds of shattering glass filled the second floor while similarly dressed figures jumped through the windows that flanked the door.**

 **"Ah, a whole team of… what? Recruits?"**

 **"First and second years. The one that kills you gets your equipment and can choose their missions for five years."**

 **"Sounds nice. I take it you want to be the one to do it out of… what? I guess thirty?"**

 **"Twenty-five and yeah, so shut-" was the last thing he said before Aero grabbed the rifle, thrusted up with it so the stock and scope hit the man in the face, dazing him and allowing Aero to wrench the rifle from his hands and shoot him once in the chest.**


	4. Time to say Goodbye

**Hey everyone! So, as stated on Monday, this will be the only week when two chapters are posted because university starts on Monday, damn it all. So, I got nothing else, enjoy the teaser for the next chapter, enjoy the chapter itself and I'll see you guys on Monday!**

* * *

Chapter 4

Aero looked at the two story restaurant in Atlas and flexed his hands, cracking his knuckles and grinning to himself, happy to finally be back on a mission. Three months had passed since the incident with team RWBY and Aero had done what was asked of him while also training to make sure he remained in top shape. Aero's target was a fellow faunus that ran a restaurant during the day but at night ran an increasingly influential gang that the Guild feared would gain to much power. Aero brought his full repertoire of weapons, expecting gang members to interfere with this mission. Wearing his usual black ensemble, he moved along the rooftops slowly, his dark blue hair swaying because it reached his shoulders now and made his way to the brick building.

He easily opened a window, noting how it was unlocked, and looked around the second floor. It was a small area with five tables and ten chairs, the red floor matching the roof and going with the orange walls. It was nearly pitch dark except for a light coming from the stairs, in front of which was a bar. Aero made his way down the stairs silently, spotting the light and taking in the larger room. It had double the number of chairs and tables, with a small stand near the door for the host's and a couple of back doors leading to the stark white kitchen.

"Okay, through one of those doors and to the right you'll find the manager's office," Sebastian said over the radio.

"10-4… Seb, Nova Protocol is a go."

"Got it," his friend replied. Aero made his way to the manager's, looking for another way in but couldn't find one. He shook his head and began to open the door slowly until it jutted forward, knocking him back into a stove. Aero rubbed his back and looked up at what had caused it, realizing it was his target, who looked at him and grinned. She wore a dark red dress that hugged her curves and looked down at Aero, who noticed the curling horns on top of her head that avoided the small amount of brown hair she had on top of her head. The ram faunus looked with black eyes that matched her skin tone and shook her head.

"This is the best assassin huh? Shame," she said, grabbing Aero by the throat and easily lifting him off the ground. Aero choked, gripping her hand until he engaged on of his hidden blades and drove it into her arm. She yelled in pain and let him go, allowing him to gasp for air until she picked him up and threw him out a door, where he slammed on top of a table and caused it and himself to fall over. Aero held an arm over his ribs, noting a couple that seemed broken or fractured, yet also noticing that he was surrounded by the darkness. He quietly moved back, clicking his tongue to note her position and that of the tables and chairs. She yelled for him, shoving a table out of the way as he moved into a better position.

"Where the hell are you assassin?!" she yelled as she went back to the kitchen. Aero immediately ran for the table she overturned and took cover behind it as the lights came back on. She came back and was met with a throwing knife to her shin, crippling her. She yelled out in pain, taking the knife out and throwing it back at Aero, who dodged the sloppy throw and moved in on his prey. She anticipated his move and suddenly lunged forward head first, this time breaking two of his ribs and sending him into the hostess stand. Aero groaned in pain, drew his pistol and shot at her, missing as she moved in herself.

"Fuck this," Aero said, dodging a punch, bringing out both of his short blades and digging them into her back. She gasped in pain until three silenced shots rang out, her eyes going wide until she fell to the side. Aero looked down and saw three bullet wounds in her chest, making him look up to see a figure dressed in all white aiming a silenced assault rifle. The two looked at one another, the figure turning the rifle on Aero when he tried to reach for his short blades, causing the assassin to hold his hands up.

"From the Guild?" he asked, the figure nodding his response, "Well shit, I knew it. Varis wants me dead?" he asked, knowing the answer as the figure nodded its head again.

"Well, you can try."

"Not just me Kalo," the figure said, pulling his hood down to reveal a tan human with dark blue eyes. Both looked up as sounds of shattering glass filled the second floor while similarly dressed figures jumped through the windows that flanked the door.

"Ah, a whole team of… what? Recruits?"

"First and second years. The one that kills you gets your equipment and can choose their missions for five years."

"Sounds nice. I take it you want to be the one to do it out of… what? I guess thirty?"

"Twenty-five and yeah, so shut-" was the last thing he said before Aero grabbed the rifle, thrusted up with it so the stock and scope hit the man in the nose and forehead, dazing him and allowing Aero to wrench the rifle from his hands and shoot him once in the chest. Aero quickly turned to his left, aimed and fired, hitting two recruits in their chests as the one behind him opened fire. Aero ducked and turned, dropping the rifle and digging one hidden blade in his lung and the other below his right shoulder, picking him up and slamming him to the ground.

Aero retrieved his short blades, heard movement upstairs and quickly brought his assault rifle out, which was resting on the middle of his back behind his sniper rifle. The rifle had a slender barrel with an intricate muzzle suppressor and grip on the bottom of the barrel for better aiming along with a stock, the butt of it shaped so it perfectly rested against his shoulder. Aero slid a small, 30-round cylinder of ammo horizontally into the stock, cocked the gun and aimed at the top of the stairs through his reflex sight. He saw a foot and opened fire, hitting a toe and causing the recruit to go down screaming in pain, which ended when Aero sent a bullet into her head. He moved forward slowly, downing another assassin and then holstering his rifle to take out a slender black rod and engage the 27-inch steel blade, ready for a fight. However, the fight came to him as he went upstairs: one jumped the railing and kicked him square in the face, sending him back down the stairs, disorienting him as a few came downstairs to meet him.

Aero got up, collected his sword and deflected a blow as another left a gash on his shoulder. Aero moved back and then leapt forward, digging his hidden blade into one of their throats, rolling off him and cutting one on the shin. He then quickly took out one of his short blades and slashed another's throat, spun and dug his sword into the last's stomach, pinning him to the wall so he could turn back around and finish the one he stabbed in the shin. He took both blades out, hit a button and the bottom of the rod which collapsed the blade back into it and winced at the pain only to look up in time for a bullet to smack his left shoulder, ripping through it and leaving Aero in shock. He yelled as he quickly drew his pistol and put four shots in the recruit that shot him as another came up and swung wildly with their sword. He predicted the moves and dodged them easily, grabbing their arm, breaking it then putting them in a headlock so he could snap their neck easily.

"S-Seb, are you okay?" he asked, wincing at the pain as the last fourteen encircled him with various weapons.

"Yeah, I'm good, you?"

"I'll let you know in a few," Aero said, suddenly throwing three knives, each killing their targets as the rest moved in. Aero jumped into the air and ran upstairs, positioning himself at the top of the steps with his assault rifle in his hands again. He opened fire, downing three more before one moved in and swatted the rifle away before stabbing his hand. Aero yelled and kicked that recruit down the steps, collecting three of her friends and allowing Aero to move back to the bar. He removed the blade and threw it, plunging it into one of the assailant's hearts as he drew his short blade, dodged under a strike and sunk the blade through the back of their neck. He turned, stabbed another three times in his chest and drove the blade into another's stomach. Aero breathed in painfully, holding his ribs and moving slowly to his assault rifle. He sheathed his blade and drew a pistol, aiming down the stairs and waiting patiently as blood leaked from his body.

Abruptly one of the last four kicked him from behind, sending him back down the steps and knocking his pistol from his hands. Aero laid on the floor, the room spinning and his head throbbing as he heard footsteps on the second floor and yelling for help. He got up slowly, caught a kick that was going to connect with his ribs and broke the leg at the knee. The attacker yelled until Aero stabbed them in the throat with his hidden blade, the screaming becoming gurgling as the last three stood at the top of the steps. They stared at Aero and he stared back, wheezing and leaning on the wall, waiting for them to move, which they did.

Their movement was all Aero needed as he instantly threw one knife into the head of one, caught one that was leaping and stabbed them in the stomach and braced the flying knee of the last. He slid back from the blocked strike, whipped his sword out, parried a punch and drove the blade horizontally into the last aggressor's skull. He quickly removed the blade and pushed the dead body down, he himself slumping down and sitting on the floor.

"Seb?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm good now," Aero said, looking down at his left hand, noting the stab wound and cursing at himself for what he had to do. He sheathed his sword, took his short blade and drove it into his hand an inch below the base of his thumb. He suppressed a scream as best he could until he found the tracking device with the tip of his blade and popped it out from his hand. He gripped his hand in agony, multiple curses flying from his lips as he took the tracker and put it on one of the dead recruit's bodies. The tracker, which had been put in him when he first joined, was the only way the Guild could track him and now they were blind to his movements. He shuffled around slowly, gathering his lost equipment and weapons while ripping his right sleeve off and wrapping it around his left hand as a make-shift bandage. As he got his pistol and the last of his throwing knives, he heard a car pull up and was relieved when he saw his best friend get out and run to him.

"You g-got everything from t-the apartment?" Aero asked through gritted teeth as Sebastian helped him to the passenger door.

"Yup, our clothes and your back up weapons along with my tech stuff. I also snagged some stuff from R&D a few days ago after I got our stuff."

"The Guild has an R&D department?"

"That it does," Sebastian said as he clamored to the driver side and drove off, a fresh bandage on his left hand from removing his tracker. In the three months since the last mission, he had decided to grow his facial hair out and was getting a nice black beard that contrasted his brown skin and blonde hair.

"What is it?" Aero said, opening the glove compartment, looking for painkillers and medical supplies.

"About 30 little smoke pellets," Sebastian said, reaching into his breast pocket and pulling one out for Aero to grab, "just twist and throw. Really cool actually."

"Yeah, great, so where the hell are we g-going?" Aero said in annoyance as he clutched his shoulder.

"Oh shit… We didn't think this through huh?"

"Guess not… wait…" Aero said, sitting back and thinking. Sebastian waited at a red light and turned to his friend, who was deep in thought.

"You have y-your Scroll?" Aero asked. Sebastian took out a brand new Scroll, having destroyed his, and handed it to Aero, who opened it up and started researching.

"What are you looking for?"

"For the four huntress's that I met during my last mission… there," Aero said, showing Sebastian a picture of team RWBY.

"Okay and?"

"One of them is Weiss Schnee, she has to have a place in Atlas, her family is from here."

"You really think a Schnee, especially her, is going to let you into her house?"

"Probably not but I need medical attention a-and the Guild will have all of the h-hospitals covered."

"This is a horrible idea."

"S-Seb, it's the only thing I can think of. Besides, I think the Guild may make a move on them n-now that we've gone rogue… would they?"

"Probably will, then again it would draw the press to them, so they may back off."

"Still, they need to know and they need to be protected. This is my fault and I'm not going to have them p-pay for it," Aero said as the light went green. Sebastian took the Scroll from Aero and typed on it while driving, Aero looking out at the night sky of the modern capital. Sebastian made a hard right and continued to drive on, taking multiple exits until they reached the house of Weiss. They stopped at the locked gate, which was open a minute later thanks to Sebastian, who sped up the long driveway and parked the car. Aero got out of the car slowly and trailed behind Sebastian, who was banging on the front door of the small manor. The door slowly opened to a woman in her mid-20's wearing a nightgown that was blue on top but faded to white as it reached her knees. Her ice blue eyes betrayed anger and exhaustion, her white hair was flat against the small of her back and her pale skin matched the light the shattered moon gave off.

"Who the hell are you? Do you know what hour it is?"

"I do Ms. Schnee, but please, you must listen."

"Why should I?"

"Because," Aero said, causing her and Sebastian to turn to the injured assassin who was clutching his injured shoulder, "T-The Assassin's Guild just turned on me and I'm afraid they may come f-for you and your team. You need to gather them and I require medical assistance."

* * *

 **"Not just a part, I was born into it," he responded, earning curious looks from everyone, "Both my parents are, well were, assassins. They retired."**

 **"Okay, so, you guys were attacked?" Scarlet asked.**

 **"Sadly yes. Thankfully we've removed our trackers," he said, holding up his bandaged left hand, "but Aero got the brunt of it. I honestly don't know what his plan is."**

 **"Is he okay?" Yang asked.**

 **"Well, they weren't life threatening injuries, so-"**

 **"I'm – oh fuck – I'm fine," they heard, looking at the source of the sound and spotting the assassin, leaning against the wall, holding an arm against his ribs. He wore a light blue shirt and the same black pants from last night. He shuffled over to them slowly, waving Sebastian's help off as he leaned on a banister for help.**

 **"Sup?" he asked.**


	5. Laying down the Foundation

**So, bit of good news is that I'm now on Chapter 10 of a planned 16 (17? 18? It keeps expanding). School starts today, I hope it goes well and for all you college readers I hope your first day and first week is good. Sorry if I seem a bit meh, been a hard 72 hours on my end. Anyway, enjoy the chapter, fav, review, whatevs and I'll see you next Monday for Chapter 6.**

* * *

Chapter 5

"What do you mean you need medical help? Go to a hospital," Weiss said, not trying to hide the annoyance in her voice.

"I can't, the Guild is going to have them c-covered. As a huntress and a heiress, you have t-to have a medical area… right?" Aero asked desperately, clinching his shoulder wound with his injured left hand. Weiss stared at him then Sebastian, sighing to herself and opening the door more so the two of them could enter. They both thanked her profusely until she stared at them, making them stop.

"It's down that hall, second door on the right," she said, pointing to the right hallway. The two made their way to the door and opened it, revealing an operating table with the latest medical equipment.

"Wow, o-okay, now I'm curious as to why she has all this," Aero said, looking around the room as Sebastian entered the room and looked with him. The room was stark white like a hospital and had a table for patients, multiple cabinets along the walls and surgical equipment on a smaller table.

"Well, you figure if her and her team are coming back from a mission, maybe instead of the bullshit that are hospitals, why not just come here to get any stitching done. Come here," Sebastian said, motioning for Aero. The assassin came over and turned around, allowing Sebastian to cut his shirt off then helped his friend lay down on the plush, green table.

"You sure you know what you're doing?" Aero asked.

"Three years of medical training, I have a pretty good idea."

"Wait, when d-did you get all that?"

"Around the time you joined, now shut up," he said. He put latex gloves on and was about to begin when he looked at Aero's wounds and realized the amount of blood Aero was losing. Sebastian cursed to himself and stormed out of the room, looking for and finding Weiss in her spacious kitchen.

"Ms. Schnee, I know this a horrible inconvenience, but I need your help," Sebastian said, earning the steely gaze of the Huntress.

"For what?"

"Aero's bleeding out and I just need you to cover the wounds as I stitch him up," he responded, pleading to her with his eyes. She looked at him and nodded, following him back to the room. Aero was focusing on the ceiling, trying to not dwell on the pain as the two entered the room and Sebastian began to operate. Aero breathed in slowly, anticipating the pain and exhaled sharply as Sebastian doused his wounds with a healing solvent. He groaned in pain as Sebastian sewed Aero's left hand shut from the two deep gashes in it, one from an attacker and the other by Aero when he removed the tracker.

"Ms. Schnee, can you take that towel and cover his shoulder please?" Sebastian asked, pointing to a towel at the end of the table with a bloody glove. Weiss grabbed the towel and looked down at Aero, who looked at her with pained eyes that shot open as she applied pressure to his wound. Sebastian moved up and flashed a light into his friends gunshot wound, shaking his head and causing Aero to look with concern.

"What?"

"It's lodged in there."

"You're fucking kidding me."

"No, I'm not."

"Are you going to have to open his shoulder wound further?" Weiss asked, causing Aero to look at her.

"Don't give him any damn ideas."

"I'm just asking so I know if he needs more equipment," Weiss quipped back.

"I will a bit but I have the tools. You're gonna have to make sure he doesn't move as I go in, okay? Don't move Aero," Sebastian said, holding tweezers and pliers in his hands. Aero closed his eyes slowly, scared and shaking slightly, trying to breathe calmly. He gripped the side of the table and braced as Sebastian slowly opened his shoulder wound open further, blood gushing from it as Aero screamed in pain. He tried not to wrench as Sebastian grabbed the bullet and pulled it out slowly, eliciting further cries from his friend. He quickly sewed up the wound and applied disinfectant to it as Aero's breathing slowed, tears in his eyes from the pain.

"Are you okay?" Weiss asked, shocking Aero and Sebastian, who both looked at her in silence until Aero nodded slowly.

"Y-yeah," he responded quietly as Sebastian moved over to Weiss, asked her to move and finished off the last wound Aero had. He then had her help Aero sit up so he could wrap his ribcage for possible broken bones. Sebastian looked in a few cabinets and found a strong sedative for him to take.

"I'm n-not going t-to sleep Sebastian."

"One, I haven't heard you use my full name in a long while and two yes you are because your body needs it. Now take the damn pills," Sebastian retorted, forcing the pills into Aero's hand. He looked at them, his friend then threw them in his mouth, swallowing them and laying back on the table.

"It probably won't e-eve… whoa…" he said, the room spinning as his eyes got heavy, "h-how… stro…" and before Sebastian could reply his friend was out cold. Sebastian shook his head and took the bloodied gloves off, washing the equipment in a nearby sink and left, walking right to a waiting Weiss. The two stared at one another until Weiss motioned for Sebastian to follow her, which he did, the two returning to the foyer.

"What in the world is going on?" she asked in a low tone.

"To make a long story short, after Aero's encounter with you and your team, he was suspended for three months. Tonight was his first mission back and the Guild sent 25 recruits to kill him, which, as you can see, they failed. We believe that the Guild may come for you four now. He basically feels that all of this is his fault," Sebastian finished as Weiss nodded her head slowly.

"Is he going to be okay?"

"He'll recover, it'll just take a while, he's never had these kind of injuries before."

"How long will you two be here?" she asked, shocking Sebastian.

"We really couldn't stay that long Ms. Sc-"

"Weiss."

"Sorry, Weiss. We've already used up all your hospitality, but if you insist, at least a couple of days."

"What should my team and I do?"

"I say stick together as long as you can until we can figure it out. Oh, sorry, I'm Sebastian Damper," he said, extending his hand out, which was gently gripped by Weiss.

"How do you know Aero?" she asked, walking to a closet.

"We're practically brothers, I've known him for nine years and I've been his handler for the past seven. I make sure he's fully stocked and knows what he's walking into."

"Ah," she replied, getting a blanket and pillow and handing them to Sebastian, "Well, I called my team when you two went to the medical room and they will be here by morning. The couch is yours. Goodnight," she said, walking away before Sebastian could question her. He looked down the other hallway, followed it and found a moderate living room with a couch, a couple of chairs, a small entertainment area and a large TV. Sebastian set everything on the couch and laid down, worried about his friend as he drifted to sleep.

* * *

"Hey Weiss," Blake said, entering the manor with her husband hot on her heels. Each of the four members were wearing their combat uniforms and were on the steps leading to the second floor, the afternoon sun in the sky.

"Hello Blake," Weiss said with a smile as she hugged her teammate then Sun. Sun hadn't changed in the years after Beacon, having the same clothing but with colors that matched his wives: a black, open shirt with a purple collar, black jean shorts and red gauntlets. Scarlet stood next to Ruby and smiled at her, which she returned as they greeted their friends. Scarlet still sported the same haircut and colors but now wore a red shirt to go with the red coat draped over his left shoulder along with grey pants and brown boots.

"So, mind telling us what's going on and why we had to bring our crap?" Sun asked Weiss, who looked at her friends and sighed.

"Do you three remember that guy we met at the concert?"

"What was his name… Aero?" Yang asked.

"Yes… he came her last night."

"What?! Are you okay?!" Ruby asked, looking Weiss over until the heiress lightly shoved her.

"I'm fine you dolt. He came here heavily injured and asked to use my medical equipment… he said that the Guild he talked about had attacked him. He was really bad guys… I felt sorry for him, his friend had to pull a bullet fro-"

"Wait, friend?" Scarlet asked in a moderate tone, "Ruby only told me about that Aero guy."

"Yeah, apparently, his friend-"

"That would be me," they all heard, making them look down and to the left at Sebastian, who walked forward to the base of the stairs, "Hi. I'm Sebastian, I'm the friend and handler, I give him information for his missions and help him while he completes them."

"So you're a part of this Guild too?" Sun asked.

"Not just a part, I was born into it," he responded, earning curious looks from everyone, "Both my parents are, well were, assassins. They retired."

"Okay, so, you guys were attacked?" Scarlet asked.

"Sadly yes. Thankfully we've removed our trackers," he said, holding up his bandaged left hand, "but Aero got the brunt of it. I honestly don't know what his plan is."

"Is he okay?" Yang asked.

"Well, they weren't life threatening injuries, so-"

"I'm – oh fuck – I'm fine," they heard, looking at the source of the sound and spotting the assassin, leaning against the wall, holding an arm against his ribs. He wore a light blue shirt and the same black pants from last night. He shuffled over to them slowly, waving Sebastian's help off as he leaned on a banister for support.

"Sup?" he asked, earning a look of disbelief from Sebastian and everyone, Aero chuckling at his friend as he turned to the group, "Glad to see you four are doing well from our last meeting. Like I told you guys then, I'm sorry I had to fight you guys, I really didn't want to, I really respect all Hunters and Huntress's. Is your wrist okay?" he asked Ruby. The six had looked at him with apprehension however it changed when he asked Ruby about her health. She smiled and nodded her head, making Aero smile.

"Good. That is a really kickass weapon you have," he said, receiving a bigger smile from Ruby as he turned his gaze back to the group, "So, I'm sure Weiss and Sebastian have filled you guys in on everything. I'm going to do everything in my power to end the Guild or at least damage them severely so they won't mess with you guys. I got you involved in this and I'll be damned if I let anyone hurt you guys."

"Wait," Yang asked, all eyes turning to her as she looked at Aero, "you said end or damage them… what do you mean?"

"Either I end them or die doing it," Aero said quietly, earning a look of distress from Sebastian.

"And you're okay with this?" Weiss asked.

"I am, I got put in this position and I may have to pay the ultimate price. As an assassin, you expect to die at any time and you get used to it," Aero responded, "Now, I've had time to think. I believe it would be best if you guys stayed here for at least a few months, allow me to possibly knock off some of the top assassins and then you can come and go as you please."

"Sounds good to me," Sun said, everyone looking at him as he looked back, "What?! We could use some time off and we have at least six months' worth."

"Sun's right," Blake said, rubbing her husband's hand, "we could just use that. The Council wouldn't mind."

"True," Weiss said, "Where would you guys stay? How would you move around if you wanted to?"

"Uh…" was the response Aero gave as he looked down and thought until Sebastian's eyes lit up.

"Well, we could stay here," he said to Weiss, looking for an answer that she didn't give, "Okay, we'll think on that. Concerning his movements, if he removes the hair dye, slick it back, give him a suit and he could be your new bodyguard."

"I don't need a bodyguard."

"True, but how else would he be able to protect you or anyone else when you guys head into the city?" Sebastian said, everyone dwelling on his question.

"He has a good point Weiss. Besides, the assassins could try something when any of us go out. It would be good to have Aero as a bodyguard," Ruby said, turning to her teammate.

"Fine. And I should have a few extra rooms, you two can stay here. Anything else?"

"When can you guys start going after your Guild?" Scarlet asked.

"When he gets better, which will be in about two to three weeks. I'll stay in contact with Lila."

"Is she okay?" Aero asked, not trying to hide the sudden concern that ripped through his body.

"She is, just worried. But she'll keep us updated on anything happening on the inside and missions."

"Okay," Aero said with a sigh of relief, "Well, that's it then. Can't wait to get to know you guys better. But, for now, if you excuse me, I need rest," Aero said with a tired smile. Everyone nodded and went upstairs to put their clothing up, Sebastian left to get his and Aero's clothing and equipment. Aero sighed slowly, walked up the stairs but stopped at Weiss, turning to her and giving her a small smile.

"I can't thank you enough Weiss."

"It's nothing."

"Oh no it's not. You're letting two strangers into your home, you and your friends are now targets of a Guild and you let said strangers heal up and now room in your home. Sebastian and I owe you a whole lot."

"It's fine Aero."

"I personally owe you," he said, Weiss now looking at him, confused at what he said, "I'll admit, I was scared when Seb was operating on me. I really was and for you to help in so many different ways… I owe you and I want to thank you personally. I'll do my absolute best to protect you and your friends," Aero said with a smile that Weiss returned.

"Thank you Aero," she said as the assassin walked upstairs and claimed a small room that he realized was next to Weiss's, making him chuckle as he laid down on the mattress and closed his eyes, which shot back open by the door opening to Sebastian, Yang and Sun all holding his various weapons.

"Dude, how many weapons do you need?" Sun asked as they all walked in.

"Plenty to take down an organization of about 500," Aero said, Yang chuckling at his response as he directed him where to place everything. He thanked the two and watched them leave, hoping to get sleep but instead the door closed with Sebastian still in the room.

"Seb, I actually want to sleep-"

"What is this suicide mission bullshit?"

"Huh?"

"What you told them, how you'll do your best to damage the Guild."

"Sebastian, I'm just trying to stay realistic."

"Mate, you'll be okay," Sebastian said, patting Aero's back, "You're not gonna die. I'll be damned if I let my best friend and brother die on me," he finished, a smile coming across Aero's lips.

"Thanks Sebastian, I appreciate it."

"Anytime. Now, why the hell did you pick the room next to Weiss's?"

* * *

 **The woman had stark white hair like Weiss and had it done in a small bun with a large bang covering her right eye, much like Scarlet's. She wore a white coat that were slit from her shoulders to her elbows, had a tight collar that covered her neck and had one button buttoned at her midsection. She wore a blue undershirt that emphasized her chest and white plants with metal grey boots that ended in 5-inch heels. She also wore black gloves and had a white flimsy skirt underneath for fashion. Her cold demeanor was felt immediately as she turned to the two men who looked at her with confusion.**

 **"Not an assassin," Sebastian said in a low tone to Aero, who nodded slowly as he approached her.**

 **"Who are you?" she asked in a low, snobbish tone.**

 **"I'm Aero Kalo, Weiss Schnee's bodyguard. You are?"**

 **"I'm her sister Winter**. **"**


	6. Beginning the Assault

**What a horrible week last week was... Here's hoping to a much better one. Still working on 11 and this might go to 14-15 chapters total after I've decided to cut certain things. Nevertheless, have a great week guys and I'll see you on Monday for Chapter 7.**

* * *

Chapter 6

Three weeks had passed since the Guild had attacked Aero and in that time no one from the Guild had tried to attack team RWBY or Aero. At first things seemed awkward and everyone seemed trepid about what was happening and about Aero and Sebastian. However, things changed over time and now everyone was meshing well with one another, learning more about each other and enjoying the company, especially Aero and Sebastian. Everyone had gathered in the training room, which was situated next to the medical room and had the same paint scheme.

"Ready bud?" Sebastian asked Aero, who nodded and got himself in a ready stance, prepared for his first training since taking his bandages off two days ago. Everyone was wearing casual clothing except Aero, who wore a white hoodie with a diagonal zipper that was unzipped, matching shirt and his black combat pants. Sebastian flipped a switch, targets popping up that were met with bullets from Aero's pistols. More popped up only to be knocked back down as Aero moved around, shooting but also throwing knives to add variety and to test his throwing motion. He holstered his pistols and snatched his assault rifle from a table, quickly loading it and shooting at more targets with three-shot bursts. This continued until he ran, holstered his rifle, slid to a stop in front of his sniper rifle, aimed down the scope and shot three close range targets. He breathed heavily as he stood up, looking around.

"And?" he asked, everyone snickering at his comment as they pulled the targets back out.

"Damn," Scarlet said, looking at a target, "Near bullseye."

"That's how almost all of them are," Yang said, looking at others as Sebastian looked at a couple, one with a knife in its head.

"Agreed. A few seem off by two inches at most, but those would still be disabling or kill shots. Well done Aero."

"Thanks," he said, gathering his weapons until Yang stopped him.

"Wait, what about your hand-to-hand skills?" she asked with a grin, "We need to have a rematch."

"Ah shit."

"You should also have a test fight with your sword and short blades," Ruby said, taking out the compressed Crescent Rose.

"Double shit," Aero replied as he slowly backed away from Yang, who still sported a grin on her face as she inched closer. He backed into a table and looked down, shocked to see it was empty.

"Seb! Where the hell are my blades?!"

"I got them you moron," he replied with a wicked smile that Sun and Scarlet reciprocated as Aero looked at him with pure anger. He then turned his attention to Yang who swung, barely missing Aero as he ducked and ran only to be met halfway by Ruby, who collided with him and sent him back to Yang. She grabbed him and threw him like a ragdoll across the large training room, landing in front of Sebastian, who looked down at Aero.

"Your blades," he said, handing Aero his sword and short blades. Aero grabbed the weapons, flicked the rod and turned in time to block a blow from Ruby, who was shocked at the sudden appearance of the sword. Their blades were locked until Aero kicked her leg out, allowing him to get away. He breathed harshly, staring at the Hunters and Huntress's, who had their weapons drawn and lowered his shoulders.

"Fuck me," he said quietly, knowing it was going to be a long training session.

* * *

The next day Aero sported multiple ice packs all over his body as he went downstairs gingerly, looking around at the intricate foyer as the morning sun began to shine through the large windows. The whole manor had ice blue walls and little details painted in white, adding a sense of luxury and finesse to the whole area while the floors had beautiful tiling throughout except in the bedrooms. Looking left, he saw the rooms for the medical room, training room and a third room he hadn't been in. Down the right hallway was the living room and across from it was the dining room which was next to the kitchen, the living room becoming the hangout spot for everyone. Aero couldn't help but smile to himself, happy to have friends and a new home, but knew he had to go after the Guild.

"Aero," he heard behind him, causing him to turn around to see Sebastian coming down the steps.

"Sebastian," he replied, "What's up?"

"Still sore?"

"Yeah thanks to you."

"Not my fault you can't keep track of your weapons," Sebastian retorted, Aero swiftly punching him in the shoulder, "Ass. Anyway, Lila has some info on Magnis. He has a mission tonight and that will be our time to move. She sent me the plans for the place he's heading to."

"Just him?" Aero asked as they walked through the living room and to the dining room, clearing off the large mahogany table and setting the plans down on it.

"Yeah, so Lila-"

"I knew I forgot to ask something. Who's Lila?" the two heard behind them, turning to see a groggy team RWBY, Sun and Scarlet, who asked the question.

"Lila Evergreen is my oldest friend next to Sebastian. We got recruited at the same time and have been practically inseparable. If Sebastian is my older brother, she's my older sister."

"How old are you?" Blake asked as she took a seat, her husband collapsing in the chair next to her.

"23," Aero replied as Yang and Weiss began to cook.

"Wow, you're right between us," Yang said, detailing how she, Weiss and Blake were a year older and Ruby a year younger then him.

"Cool. So, back to Lila?"

"Right, she said that his target is someone who works in the Atlas army, so we won't have to travel far. He's starting to move up the ranks at an alarming rate and has had anti-Vacuo rhetoric. You may want to get Magnis _after_ he kills the target."

"Magnis?" Weiss asked.

"One of the top assassins. I'm going after him," Aero said, looking over the blueprints of an army barracks until everyone perked their heads up at the front door audibly opening and closing. Aero held his hand up, motioned with his hand to Sebastian and the two moved forward slowly, turning around the corner into the living room and spotting someone they didn't know.

The woman had stark white hair like Weiss and had it done in a small bun with a large bang covering her right eye, much like Scarlet's. She wore a white coat that revealed her shoulders, had a tight collar that covered her neck and had one button buttoned at her midsection. She wore a blue undershirt that emphasized her chest and white pants with metal grey boots that ended in 5-inch heels. She also wore black gloves and had a white flimsy skirt underneath for fashion. Her cold demeanor was felt immediately as she turned to the two men who looked at her with confusion.

"Not an assassin," Sebastian said in a low tone to Aero, who nodded slowly as he approached her.

"Who are you?" she asked in a low, snobbish tone.

"I'm Aero Kalo, I'm Weiss Schnee's bodyguard. You are?"

"I'm her sister Winter. I suggest you move out of the way. Why the hell does she need a bodyguard?" she asked to herself as she made her way past Aero and to the dining room, where she was greeted by everyone.

"Hello sister," she said in a sweeter tone as she embraced Weiss.

"Hello Winter, what brings you here?" she asked as Aero and Sebastian made their way back to the dining room.

"Oh, just in the neighborhood. I have a question for you," she began as Aero and Sebastian began to once again look over the map of the barracks, "Who are these two?"

"Friends," Weiss said quickly.

"Really?" Winter said with a grin, "Because, if I recall from a few moments ago, that faunus just said he was your bodyguard. Now tell me, how would father feel about this?"

"I'm sure he wouldn't mind it one bit," Aero said, everyone looking at him and shaking their heads at Aero, who ignored them as he turned to Winter.

"Oh, I'm sure he would. See, me and my family-"

"I know your disgusting family history when it comes to my kind," Aero said, leaning on the table and crossing his arms, Winter staring at him, anger slowly creeping onto her beautiful features.

"Disgusting?"

"Very."

"Well, it may be, but my father is like that. I know Weiss isn't because of her friend," Winter said, motioning to Blake with her head, "I'm more down the middle-"

"Like father like daughter, what a great Huntress you are, protecting all of Remnant but only really caring about humans, not giving a da-" was all Aero could say as Winter moved in suddenly and placed a gloved hand over his mouth to quiet him. He reacted instinctively, kicking her knee, grabbing her arm and twisting it, pinning it behind her back and bending her over the table. She groaned in pain as Aero pinned his other arm to the back of her neck.

"Next time, don't ever just take something or someone at face value," he said into her ear. She suddenly shifted her weight, kicked him in the stomach and slammed his head on the blueprints, holding it there as everyone moved in to separate the two. Weiss, Yang and Sun pulled Winter off Aero, who shook his head as Scarlet, Ruby, Sebastian and Blake held him back.

"Next time, don't attack a Huntress," Winter said, fixing her coat and hair and turning to Weiss, "And I suggest you get better friends."

"It's not my fault when you want to say those kind of things," Weiss retorted, mere inches from her sisters face, "I appreciate you coming over, but you have quickly overstayed your welcome. You need to leave Winter," she said. Winter looked at her, nodded her head, stared at Aero, turned and left. Aero held a hand to his head, shaking his head slowly, a small amount of blood going down his head from a small cut.

"What a fantastic morning," Aero said, everyone having a light laugh at his joke as Weiss brought a hand towel.

"I am so sorry," she said as she held the towel to his wound, "Winter and I haven't really seen eye to eye on a lot of things."

"Its fine, not your fault. Hell, half of it was mine," he said, placing a hand over hers, their fingers lightly brushing one another as he held the towel in place.

"You going to be okay for tonight?" Sebastian asked.

"Yeah, I will. Can I get some food first though?"

* * *

Aero wore his all black gear, looking around on a roof, seeking a specific car that would help him complete his mission quicker. He finally spotted a car a few blocks down from his position in the midnight moonlight and moved in. He was thirty feet above it and jumped down, latching onto a windowsill to stop himself, dropping himself to another and another until he reached the ground. He peered inside and found someone on a laptop with a headset, talking to someone and looking over a map in his left hand.

"Seb, found his handler."

"End it," Aero heard, drawing his silenced pistol, aiming and sending a bullet clean through the handler's head, his blood and brains splattering on the inside of the windshield.

"Yup, Magnis knows what's happening," Sebastian told Aero from a more remote location further away. He climbed back up and looked around, noting how close he was to Fort Hyperion and that the barracks were just on the other side of a tower and chained fence. He looked around and sighed.

"Seb, we have a problem. I see no way of getting into this place, it's literally a fucking fort."

"Hmm… Any nearby cars going in or out?"

"I don't see any and Magnis could be finishing his target right now."

"Wait, that's it Aero! Just wait, let Magnis come to you!" Sebastian said, nearly blasting Aero's ear out. Aero confirmed Sebastian's plan and sat on the edge of the building, breathing slowly and keeping his eyes trained on the barracks until he saw a figure move near the barracks. It jumped in the back of a truck that left the base, the figure rolling out when the truck was a block away and only one block from Aero. The figure dashed into an alley then up the building across from Aero, getting up and brushing himself off only to stop when he spotted the assassin.

"Aero, I'll be damned," Magnis said as Aero jumped over to him, "What brings you here? Making my job easy?"

"Oh, what job?"

"Whoever kills you gets a nice pay bonus. Already being the new number one, I could use that seeing as I plan to retire within the next two years."

"Magnis, you know why I'm here."

"Because you got burned hard."

"Because the Assassin's Guild has lost its way and wants to kill innocent Hunter's and Huntress's. Because Varis has let the power get to him."

"Well, Aero, I still believe in our mission and no one is gonna stop us," Magnis said, jumping forward, brandishing his hidden blades. Aero sidestepped and brought his sword out, Magnis copying his motion as the two locked blades. They exchanged blows, trying to out maneuver one another as the master assassin's went at it. Magnis eventually got the upper hand, knocking Aero's sword from his hand, punched him where Winter had cut him earlier and swept his legs. Aero groaned as Magnis brought his boot down on his chest, Aero wheezing in pain as Magnis shook his head.

"You could've lead the Guild to greatness Aero."

"Could've. You talk too much Magnis," Aero said, plunging a hidden blade into Magnis's foot. He screamed in pain as Aero pushed him off, drawing his two short blades and standing back up, wiping the blood from his face. Magnis rolled and engaged his hidden blades again, the two staring at one another. Aero moved in, swinging with one blade and using the other to deflect a blow from Magnis. Aero kicked him in the gut and brought a blade onto his shoulder, the elder assassin yelling and pulling the blade out, using it as his own weapon.

"You're not walking from this alive Magnis."

"Neither will you Aero," he said, charging forward suddenly and leaving a gash on Aero's chest. He moved back, trying his best to stop the onslaught of blows until he engaged his hidden blade and stabbed Magnis in the forearm, cutting his wrist. Magnis looked at the wound and stumbled back, blood running from his wrist. He looked at Aero, fear in his eyes as he moved forward only to be met by Aero, who stabbed him in the heart with his hidden blade. Aero helped Magnis down, who stared at Aero and grabbed his shoulder.

"Why Aero? Y-you could've-"

"I know. But you know I have no choice. I would never let anyone hurt those four."

"They've c-corrupted y-you…"

"No, they haven't. Hell, these past few weeks have been the best of my life. I have a new family that cares about me and sees me as more than just a weapon. And I know the leaders of the Guild are listening. I'll die before you guys hurt them," and with those last words, Aero felt Magnis take his last breath. Aero shook his head, closed Magnis's eyes with his fingers and gathered his equipment. He leapt across the rooftops, stopping on the roof of a coffee shop and getting in via the roof access door. He grabbed an orange work shirt and threw it overtop is shirt, walking in and finding Sebastian sipping a cup of coffee.

"Are we all snug and relaxed?" Aero asked, his friend smiling from ear to ear, who stood up and embraced him.

"Let's go home," Sebastian said, Aero nodding in agreement as they left, got into a car and drove back to the manor. They walked in and were greeted by sounds of laughter and excitement coming from the living room. Aero held a bandage to his chest and head to cover the blood as the two walked to the living room, where there friends were watching TV and enjoying time off.

"Holy shit! Aero!" Yang said, everyone standing up and greeting the assassin, hugging him and making sure he was okay.

"Glad to see you're okay," Blake said with a smile that Aero returned.

"Thanks. Magnis was a helluva old bastard, left a couple of nice marks," Aero said as Sebastian left to answer a phone call, "How's everything been here? Thought you guys would be asleep?"

"Man, we haven't had this much time off in forever, we're taking every second of it," Sun said with a grin that Scarlet copied.

"Nice. I'll join you guys in a quick second, I'm gonna patch myself up."

"Need help?" Ruby asked, Scarlet staring at her, "Not like that!" she snapped, everyone laughing at the two.

"I should be fine," he said as he turned to Weiss, "Everything okay with your sister?"

"Actually yes. After you left a couple of hours she swung back."

"She actually apologized, which is shocking coming from her," Yang said as she and a couple of others watched a boxing match.

"Wow. Glad to hear, hang tight, I'll-"

"No you can't join them," Sebastian said, returning to the room, causing everyone to look at him.

"Wait what?" Aero asked.

"I have a couple of friends on the inside that I've been chatting with since we left. One just called me: Vincent has had Lila detained by the Guild and she is being held in Mistral."

"WHAT?!"

* * *

 **She had decided that even though she was heiress she would not want to inherit the company, much like how her sister Winter had decided many years ago. Now her father had taken on a protégé and was showing him the ropes, the young man at the family's large mansion in Atlas, while she was stuck here listening to quarterly reports. Her attention was elsewhere when her Scroll buzzed, which she heard in a little white, leather purse she had carried into the meeting. She pulled it out and looked quizzically at it for her sister had sent her a text.**

 ** _You may get mad at this, but I did some digging on your new 'bodyguard'. Do tell me dear sister, how is it a faunus can be alive if he died seven years ago?_**


	7. The Past Catches Up

**Hey, so, I'm doing better, which shows because of a few things: 1. this should be a well edited chapter (or maybe my old 21-year old eyes are failing me) 2. I'm up to chapter 14 on this story and 3. fun fact: Uprising (the third of the trilogy) was supposed to be my last story but I've got one more idea cooking... one that I really like. Anyway, hope you guys are having an amazing Labor Day weekend and I hope you guys do enjoy this chapter. Please do review so I can get some good tips and if you really enjoy it, please also fav and follow. I always deeply appreciate it. Thanks Guys!**

* * *

Chapter 7

Aero had changed his shirt and was now jogging back down the stairs, his equipment rattling against each other as he moved past everyone.

"Aero-"

"Let's go Sebastian," Aero said, walking to the front door but being stopped with a hand on his shoulder by Weiss.

"Yes?"

"We're coming with."

"Oh no you're not," Aero said but was stopped by another hand, this time Scarlet's on his other shoulder.

"Dude, you're hurt and that place is probably fortified. Let us."

"I'm not letting you guys get-"

"We got involved when we stopped you from killing that guy," Ruby said, stepping forward and showing concern. Aero looked at them and shook his head.

"Aero, you're hurt. Magnis did a number on you. You're not 100%. Ruby's right, we're all involved now. Besides, they're your, well our, friends," Sebastian said with a smile, looking at everyone who returned it. Aero nodded his head slowly.

"Okay, you got the plans?" he asked Sebastian, who nodded, "Good. Weiss, do you have an airship we can use?"

"Of course I do, why wouldn't I?" she asked, walking away.

"Good point," Aero said as they followed her to the backyard. In front of the nicely sized pool was a helipad, on top of which rested a newly minted Bullhead that everyone clamored into. Weiss set the ship to autopilot and put in the location that Sebastian relayed to her then the two returned to everyone, allowing Sebastian to lay the plans down, everyone encircling them.

"Okay, three story building that was abandoned a couple of years ago. Lila is on the third floor, back room. It is apparently filled with a good amount of bodyguards and fellow assassins. Here's what I'm thinking: Yang, Blake, Sun will take the first floor; Ruby, Scarlet and Weiss will take the second. Aero will slip by and make his way to Lila, where he'll wait, you guys breach and then get her out. Questions?" he asked.

"You sure you want Aero alone on the third floor?" Yang asked.

"You guys need experience fighting assassins. He can handle himself," he said, patting Aero's arm, who had them crossed.

"We have four hours, by the time we get there the sun will start to rise pending any bad weather. I'll stay here and if you guys need any information, just yell my name," Sebastian said, handing the Hunters and Huntress's headsets similar to Aero's, "Let's just relax. It'll be okay Aero," Sebastian said, patting his shoulders. Aero nodded and walked past everyone, taking a seat in the co-pilot seat and staring out at the passing clouds and shattered moon hanging in the sky.

"Can I join you?" he heard behind him, snapping him to attention, turning around to see Weiss.

"Weiss… of course," he said, motioning to the pilot's chair. She sat down and looked at him, waiting for him to turn to her.

"I know what you're going through."

"Really?"

"Not like that smartass. I know you're blaming yourself."

"Well, it's kinda easy-"

"You're right, it is," Weiss said, Aero looking at her curiously, "I've done it a lot my whole life. I blamed myself for how my family treated faunus', I blamed myself when I wasn't made leader of team RWBY back at Beacon, for not being perfect, for a fight I lost in a tournament… I've blamed myself a whole lot. And you're going through it too and you shouldn't. Things just happen in certain ways Aero."

"Life's unfair."

"Exactly. We'll find a way to save Lila. But you like this won't help, you'll get hurt easily. Don't dwell on it Aero; you may blame yourself, but no one on my team or their significant others blame you. Hell, we should thank you for bringing us together for a month, we've had a great time being together again like back at Beacon," she said with a smile that Aero returned.

"Thank you Weiss."

"Anytime Aero. You want me to stay up here with you?"

"You know what? I think I would love that," Aero said, the two chatting to one another and getting to know one another better as the ship flew on.

* * *

"Who the hell are you three?" a guard armed with an assault rifle said to Yang, Blake and Sun. The three walked up to him, who was in a ready stance, his hands firmly gripping his rifle as Weiss, Ruby, Scarlet and Aero made their way in the waning darkness to the building.

"We're supposed to meet up with some friends," Yang replied.

"For what?"

"Uh… to smoke?" Blake said, the guard looking at her.

"Really? Like hell. You need to – UNF!" he yelled as Yang punched and discharged a shot, sending him rocketing into the building, knocking the doors off its hinges and into a back wall, leaving an indentation.

"Oops," Yang said as the three made their way inside and fought guards while their friends made their way into the second floor via a window. They surprised a few guards and easily took them down as Aero made his way to the third floor, shooting one and stabbing another with a hidden blade then running to the room and waiting. He leaned on the door, his assault rifle in his hands, ready to go as the rest of the team made their way to him.

"Damn," Sun said, looking at the two dead guards.

"My handiwork. Sebastian, where is she located?"

"It looks as though she is actually across from the door you're in front of. She has five guards with her, two next to her with the others standing around, weapons ready."

"Got it. Yang, blast through that wall with Scarlet and Sun. Ruby, get low and get ready to shoot. Blake, as soon as I kick the door you go in with Weiss and me. Got it?" he asked, no one answering as they moved into position. He counted down, leaned against the door and kicked it in with the back of his heel, turning with the door as an explosion ripped right next to him. Two guards were sent to the back wall, another downed by Ruby as Aero shot the two next to Lila in the head. Lila shrieked at the sudden turn of events then looked up at Aero with shock as tears came to her face. He looked at her and hugged her as Blake cut the rope tying her hands behind the chair she sat in, allowing her to hug him back tightly until Aero stared at her.

"Lila, I'm really happy to see you okay but I need you to breathe in and out slowly because this is gonna hurt," he said, letting go then holding her left hand and turning it around. Lila looked confused then looked scared as he took a short blade out.

"Oh… t-the tracker," she said, Aero nodding his head as he looked at her. She looked at him and felt two hands on her shoulders from Yang and Blake as he dug the blade in, her eyes going wide and a scream escaping her lips as he popped the tracker out. The two held her shoulders and calmed her down as he ripped his right sleeve off and wrapped it around her hand. The two let go and he patted her shoulder as she shook at the pain, moving her left hand to ease the pain until the radio buzzed to life.

"Aero, I see three figures leaving the building. You may wanna chase after them."

"I thought you guys got everyone?" Aero said, turning to everyone.

"We thought so too," Ruby said, just as confused as everyone.

"It's Vincent, he snuck out the back when he heard the commotion downstairs. My bow," she said, holding her hand out and given her bow by Blake that was resting on the ground, "Let's go hunting Aero," she said, the assassin nodding.

"Gladly. Head back to the ship, we'll handle this," he said as they ran out the room. They leapt out the windows and looked around, spotting the three figures and chasing after them, leaving the group behind. Aero pulled out his pistols and got a few shots off, hitting one of the guards as Lila ran ahead, stopped suddenly, drew an arrow back with her right hand and fired, hitting Vincent square in the thigh. He yelled in pain and stumbled to the ground as the last guard turned and fired, scattering the two. He continued to fire, trying to hit Lila only to go down thanks to three bullets from Aero. The two moved in on the handler, who was trying to pull the arrow out. He wore a yellow shirt, jeans and casual shoes, his brown eyes looking up at the two in pure horror.

"P-please Lila, I'm s-sorry, it's just-" before he could finish Lila got down and stabbed him in the neck with her hidden blade.

"You're not sorry," she said, staring into his eyes as his life drained away. His breathing stopped quickly as Lila stood back up, tears in her eyes, "Bastard."

"I'm so sorry Lila," Aero said, gripping her shoulder as the Bullhead pulled over to them.

"I-I know, but it's okay. One less for the Guild. Your friends s-seem nice," she said, the two sharing a laugh as the side doors opened.

* * *

A week later Lila had been enjoying the manor, taking in everything and getting to know everyone, much like how Aero did just a month ago, even going on a shopping trip with the half-sisters disguised as a bodyguard. When she was out and about, she wore a short green wig, dark green slacks and a green shirt with white straps, carrying her hidden blades as her weapons. Aero was in the training room early in the morning, punching and kicking a sandbag, his moves getting more intense until he yelled with his final three hits. He breathed hard, rotating his right shoulder and wincing, a little bit of pain still residing in the sewn shoulder.

"Wow, that's one way to express anger," he heard behind him, turning to see Weiss standing in the doorway.

"Yeah, one way," he said, grabbing a towel and running it along his forehead, happy to see Weiss, "What are you up to?"

"Looking for you actually. The heads of the other branches of my family's company are holding a meeting today. I have to go; while I'm no longer part of the company, I still need to show face when Winter isn't busy, but sadly she is, so that means it's you and I," Weiss said.

"Got it, I'll go get dressed," Aero said, watching her walk away with a smile on his face. He quickly left the training room and headed upstairs to his room, taking a quick shower and changing into his new casual outfit. He wore a white suit jacket unbuttoned with a buttoned black dress shirt, matching black slacks and boots. On the inside of the suit jacket he wore his pistol holster, allowing him to carry both his pistols and on his right thigh hung his sword rod, leaving him prepared for any situation.

"You're not going to need your sword," she said, standing in his doorway. Aero didn't respond because he was staring at the heiress, his mouth slightly open. Her hair was flat against her back, her bangs covering her forehead and longer ones covering the corners of her eyes. Her ice blue eyes shined against her pale skin, small white earrings dangled from her ears, her lips lightly colored thanks to a pale red lipstick. Her body was accentuated with a tight white strapless dress, her cleavage covered with a black design, which ran to her knees and was complimented by white shoes with black heels.

"Aero?" she asked as he continued to stare at her, "Aero!"

"Ah what?" he said, shaking his head, "Sorry, you said no sword?"

"I did."

"I'm still bringing it. You should always over prepare," he said, Weiss groaning at him as he walked out and peeked into her room, "You should bring your sword."

"No."

"Let me hold it then."

"Aero-"

"Weiss," he said, cutting her off and laying a hand softly on her shoulder, "I don't know what the Guild is planning. This is your first meeting since you've let Seb and I stay here. It will ease my mind a lot, please. I'll hold onto it and gladly give it back to you here when nothing happens," he finished, nearly pleading with her. She looked at him, turned back to her room, grabbed Myrtenaster and handed it to the assassin, who put it through a belt loop. The two left the manor and walked to a waiting stretch limo, the door held open by the driver, and got in.

"Wow, so this is living in the lap of luxury," Aero said, sitting down against the right side while Weiss sat against the back. Aero had to remove her sword and carefully set it down next to him, something Weiss noticed.

"Told you we should've left it."

"Yeah yeah, I know," Aero said as Weiss grabbed a bottle of white wine from a cooler, opened it via an electric bottle opener and poured herself a glass.

"Would you like a glass?"

"I'll be honest, I've never had wine before, but sure," Aero said, shrugging his shoulders and taking a glass from Weiss, moving the liquid around. He sipped it and coughed immediately, Weiss laughing at his reaction.

"The hell? That has like no flavor."

"It's a sweet wine."

"Sweet wine my ass," he quickly snapped back, Weiss laughing harder at his reaction as the limo stopped in front of a luxury hotel. A doorman opened the door for Weiss and Aero to get out, who proceeded to walk through the lobby and to a large sitting area.

"Wait here, I should be out in three hours," she said to Aero, who nodded, put her sword on a table and laid down on a plush red couch, propping his feet up on the far arm rest and laying his head back. He stared at the cream colored ceiling, lost in his thoughts about everything that was happening and about Weiss.

The heiress entered the small boardroom and sat down with the representatives from the Atlas branch of her family's company. All the men and women in the room wore business style clothing and watched her enter as a man stood in front of a screen, a laptop to his right that he was typing on. He began by talking about sales figures and what her father wanted in the next quarter, the usual dribble that Weiss had come to ignore. She had decided that even though she was heiress she would not want to inherit the company, much like how her sister Winter had decided many years ago. Now her father had taken on a protege and was showing the young man the ropes at the family's large mansion in Atlas, while she was stuck here listening to quarterly reports. Her attention was elsewhere when her Scroll buzzed, which she heard in a little white, leather purse she had carried into the meeting. She pulled it out and looked quizzically at it for her sister had sent her a text.

 _You may get mad at this, but I did some digging on your new 'bodyguard'. Do tell me dear sister, how is it a faunus can be alive if he died seven years ago?_

Weiss looked confused then opened the link sent by her sister, which opened to a local newspaper's website, specifically to the obituaries. She looked and gasped at the name she spotted on it.

"Ms. Schnee?" the man asked, the heiress looking up in embarrassment.

"Y-yes?"

"I'm sorry ma'am, is there a problem?"

"No, I'm sorry, just a text from a fellow Huntress. Just girl things, continue," she said with a fake smile, the man continuing on from where he left off. Weiss immediately texted Ruby.

 _I need you to do me a favor._

 _Anytime partner! What is it?_

 _Do some research on Aero. My sister sent me something that's… disturbing._

 _What is it?_

 _I'll send it to you. Get Yang and Blake to help as well._

Weiss sent the link to Ruby and waited, the minutes dragging on, the talking being drowned by her own distressed thoughts as two hours passed. She was now questioning everything about Aero, something that made her somewhat saddened as he had seemed like a good friend to her. Suddenly the door was kicked down by the faunus, who stood in the doorway breathing heavily, blood on his white jacket as he looked around.

"Sorry to interrupt, but we have a problem Weiss," he said, waiting for her to get up then tossing her rapier to her. She grabbed the hilt and ran out to four dead members of the Assassin's Guild, each with deep gashes.

"How did we not hear this?"

"I took them out quietly. They didn't even notice me, they walked by and was about to knock when I stabbed one, threw one back and fought the other two. Killed them then finished the last one, they didn't have a chance to really fight back."

"Any more coming?"

"I think so," Aero said, moving to the lobby which was now clear of people, his pistols drawn as he took cover behind a pillar. Weiss stopped, ran back to the room to warn the board members then grabbed her Scroll, opening it to a text from Blake.

 _Weiss we've double checked everything Winter sent. All of this checks out… We had Yang drive out to a cemetery but we can't find a gravestone or grave for that matter. It's all... odd._

Weiss read the text then nodded to herself, being brought back to the current situation with gunshots from Aero, who downed a member. She ran back out and witnessed another swing his blade horizontally, Aero ducking then shooting him in the back of his knee then the back of the attackers head. Another rushed Weiss, who parried his blow and cut him across his back, stumbling his back until he slipped on a sheet of ice she created. She turned, forming a small wall of ice and shattered it, sending the large chunks of ice into multiple attackers. Aero moved back, whipped his rod out, which brought forth his blade, and caught a strike with it. He pushed back, kicked the female attacker in her stomach then brought the blade down onto her spine, severing it. He blocked another attack, put the attacker in a headlock and snapped his neck.

"Oh shit," he said, looking down at the dead body, Weiss walking over to him after taking down two more with her precise attacks.

"Oh no," she added, looking with Aero. The young man wore a mask that they both knew so well, "The White Fang are helping?"

"Guess so. I'll talk to Sebastian about it," Aero said, placing a hand on her shoulder, however she shrugged it off.

"Well, I guess I was right about your sword," he said with a nervous chuckle.

"Yeah, guess so," she said, her two pools of ice blue staring at him. Aero stared back, confused and watched her walk back to the room with the board members. Soon she returned and the two left, sitting in silence in the limo, Aero looking down and wondering what was going on and if he somehow did something wrong.

* * *

The next morning Aero was walking down the steps into the main foyer, looking at the morning sunlight stream through the windows that were high on the walls. He leaned against the banister, yesterday still bothering him as he heard footsteps behind him.

"Morning mate," Sebastian said, patting Aero on the shoulder, who nodded at him.

"Morning. Find out anything?"

"Apparently the White Fang have allied with the Guild because the Guild has promised to help them take down more human targets. Of course, it's also because of your interactions with Adam and your last mission for them didn't go so well and you're allied with their enemy, so."

"Fantastic, two enemies."

"Mm. By the way, the girls are out shopping, so it's you, me, Scarlet and Sun."

"Sounds like a fun day," Aero said, a small smile on his lips.

"Don't worry about her Aero, I'm sure it's not anything serious," Sebastian said, patting his friends shoulder, who nodded. Both turned and looked at the front door because of a knock.

"By the way, we need to switch rooms," Sebastian said as Aero walked to the door.

"Why?" Aero said, turning in front of the door to his friend.

"Because I never want to hear two faunus' fuck again. Oh man, dude… ugh, the sounds and animal noises... Ijust," Sebastian said, quivering, making a puking sound and shaking his head as Aero laughed.

"It wasn't that bad," Sun said at the top of the steps with a groggy Scarlet, making Aero laugh harder and shake his head.

"I'll consider it," he said, gripping the door handle. All of a sudden an explosion erupted from the door, launching the assassin back, bouncing off the floor and stopping at the base of the stairs. Sebastian was thrown back as well against the stairs, his vision blurred from the explosion as people strewn in, leaving Sun and Scarlet to look on in confusion. Aero looked up, blood trailing from a fresh cut on his cheek as a figure approached him, a shotgun in his hands, the end of the barrel hovering over Aero's head. He stood next to Aero's head, a sadistic grin on his face while he looked down at Aero. He wore a tan long-sleeve shirt, black boots and dark brown pants, his hazel eyes staring at Aero.

"Hello Aero."

"Saunin… the m-mad."

* * *

 **"What now?" Aero asked, standing up and looking at the carnage.**

 **"I was thinking about that, because this could've been too easy for them," Scarlet replied, "I have a plan."**

 **"Which is?"**

 **"Well-"**

 **"WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED?!" Weiss yelled.**


	8. Fighting to the Truth

**Man life just sucks sometimes, it's been rough on my end. I really hope and pray everyone though has had some cool weeks since a majority should be back at school, I hope it has been great for everyone. So, still kicking around this new idea while being stuck on Chapter 16 (for reasons you'll see in two months. That's gonna be fun lol). Anyway, next couple of weeks are a bit filler, more just character development than anything else, hope you guys don't mind. Lastly, since no one knows how Scarlet fights, I just thought of something that I think works, though its probably gonna be completely different in the show. As always, if you are really enjoying it or loathing every word, do let me know so I know what to change, improve on, etc. and also do fav, follow, tell your friends, all that jazz. Have an amazing week guys and I'll be back next week!**

* * *

Chapter 8

"H-How?" Aero said, holding his side and feeling a piece of wood lodged in it.

"Quite simple really: send people after you then wait and see what vehicle you get into," Saunin said, loading a new shell into his shotgun.

"You motherfucker."

"Oh I've been called worse. Ready to say hi to Mr. Shotgun?" he asked, his finger on the trigger. Aero gulped and looked over at Sebastian, who looked horrified at his best friend. Aero was shocked when Saunin was suddenly rocketed back outside. Aero looked up at Sun, who was holding his staff in one hand and held the other out to the assassin, who grasped it and helped himself up.

"You okay?"

"Eh, a couple of new scars and splinters," Aero said, quickly pulling out the thin piece of wood that was in his side, "You?"

"I'm good," Sun said, handing Aero one of his shortblades. He took the blade and looked around at the thirty attackers that had come with Saunin.

"Seb, go get my sword and your pistol. Scarlet, would you mind helping?" Aero said as he stood back-to-back with Sun, the two ready as Sebastian made his way up the stairs while Scarlet ran to join them. The attackers moved in, their weapons poised to strike down the three but were met with a full counter-attack. Aero slashed one's chest, broke another's arm and drove the blade into the head of a third. Sun smacked multiple attackers back and blasted a few more away with his shotguns. Scarlet easily avoided and parried varied attacks, using fire to blast some away while leaving burn marks on others with solid punches and kicks. The numbers dwindled as Saunin got back up and was handed his claymore, which he swung around easily in his hand, ready to charge into the battle.

"Aero!" the assassin heard and turned behind him in time to see Sebastian throw his sword, which Aero caught and engaged the blade in time to stop an overhead strike from Saunin.

"You t-two take care of the rest!" Aero said before he received a swift punch to his gut and was tripped by the more experienced assassin. Aero landed hard and rolled in time to avoid Saunin's sword being driven into his mid-section. He got up and launched an attack of his own, using his quicker moves to catch Saunin off-guard, finally being able to knock him back, allowing Aero to catch his breath and easily dispatch an assassin. Only a few remained and were being handled by the two hunters, Scarlet creating a wall of fire in front of two assassins, allowing Sun to knock the last one into the other two. They turned to the downed elder assassin, who was getting up and looking at them.

"Today I get to kill two hunters and two former members of the Assassin's Guild… yay to me," Saunin said with a grin.

"Is that the reason you called him mad earlier?" Scarlet asked as he moved over to Aero with Sun.

"Yeah, he really loves to kill and he's usually brutal with it."

"Oh joy," Scarlet said as Saunin ran at them, parrying Sun, kicking Scarlet square in the chest and stabbing at Aero, who dodged the blow and lead with his shoulder into Saunin's chest. Aero turned to grab his pistol from Sebastian but was slammed face-first into the wall by his opponent. With Aero stunned, Saunin turned his attention to the two Hunters, who readied themselves as Sebastian aimed his pistol at Saunin.

"Stop Saunin," he said, the assassin turning to him, "you're outnumbered and you have to deal with Aero and two Hunters. Just surrender."

"Oh come on Sebastian, you know I don't do that," he said, suddenly throwing a knife that pierced Sebastian's hand. Sun and Scarlet moved in, Sun smacking him with his staff and Scarlet throwing a ball of fire at him, which impacted him and stumbled him back. The two saw their chance and put the pressure on, Sun nailing multiple shots with his guns while Scarlet landed multiple fiery hits. Saunin moved back, absorbing the blows until he swung with his mighty claymore, knocking both Hunters back. He shook his arm which was stinging from Scarlet and walked over to the dazed Hunter.

"A man who can wield fire. Interesting, now die," he said, pulling out his shotgun and aiming it. Scarlet quickly formed a shield with his aura, the pellets deflecting off it as Sun sent two clones at Saunin, which threw his balance off. He moved to the side and aimed at Sun only to stop because of a stinging pain in his back. He moved his arm and smacked something, the sound of glass shattering behind him confirming to him that his attacker was off him. Sun moved only to be met with another mighty swing from Saunin's claymore, this time leaving a shallow gash on Sun's chest. Scarlet moved in as well, exchanging hits with the assassin who grabbed him and threw him roughly on the stairs, Scarlet impacting the steps awkwardly. Saunin reached around and grabbed at the pain, realizing it was Aero's sword and turned to see the assassin crumbled underneath a broken window, groaning in pain.

"Nice try Aero," he said, throwing the sword to the side as Sebastian tended to Sun.

"I-it was the best I could think of," Aero said, turning over in time to see Saunin look down at him.

"This is the end of your little crusade," Saunin said, swinging his blade only to stop as all of a sudden Aero turned and stabbed Saunin in his right foot with his short blade. The assassin yelled in pain, the blade penetrating the floor and pinning him there, leaving him unable to move as he tried to grab the blade. He looked up and swung with his claymore, missing Aero multiple times until Aero grabbed his arm and broke his wrist. Saunin yelled in pain even louder as Aero wrenched the claymore from his hands and looked at the assassin.

"What was that about this being the end?" he asked. Before Saunin could reply, Aero broke his left leg and removed his short blade, flattening Saunin on the floor writhing in pain.

"D-damn you Aero! They w-won't s-stop!" Saunin yelled as Aero stood above him.

"I know they won't. But I'm ready for them," he replied, driving the blade into Saunin's chest, knocking the air from the assassin as Aero grabbed his sword and drove it into his adversary's heart. Saunin drew one last breath and closed his eyes, allowing Aero to draw his blade out and clean it. He turn and moved slowly to his friends, who were looking after each other.

"You guys okay?"

"We're fucked up, but we're up," Sun said with a pained smile. Aero called the authorities as Sebastian helped the two Hunters to the medical room, treating them then retrieving Aero. Everyone was patched up and gave statements, each lying and saying that the White Fang had attacked them.

"Why did we have to lie?" Sun asked as he sat on the steps with his friends while the bodies and unconscious attackers were taken away.

"You want the Guild super pissed at us for revealing them to the world?" Sebastian asked, everyone shaking their heads, "Good."

"What about the ones who were knocked out?"

"Oh they know how to lie."

"Weiss is gonna be super pissed."

"Oh yeah."

"What now?" Aero asked, standing up and looking at the carnage.

"I was thinking about that, because this could've been too easy for them," Scarlet replied, "I have a plan."

"Which is?"

"Well-"

"WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED?!" Weiss yelled, causing everyone to look at her and her entourage. Ruby and Blake ran past her to their significant others and Lila ran to Aero, looking him over as she hugged him.

"Are you okay?" she asked quietly, Aero nodding in response.

"Saunin's dead."

"He attacked?"

"With about thirty members."

"He was a damn tough dude," Sun replied, Scarlet agreeing with him as Weiss approached Aero.

"What happened?!"

"We were attacked by the Guild."

"How did they know about this house? You said they couldn't track you!"

"I know Weiss," Aero began, walking down the steps to her and lowering his shoulders and his head, "And I'm sorry. I thought they couldn't but they followed our limo back from your company's meeting. I'm so sorry."

Weiss had her hands curled into fists and was shaking as Aero talked, but calmed down when she saw that he was truly sorry for what had happened. She was further calmed by Yang, who placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed.

"At least they're okay, right Weiss?"

"Right," she replied quietly, patting Aero's arm, "It's okay Aero."

"It's not at all. I'll find a way to make it all up to you," he said, placing his hands on her shoulders and looking down at her with his golden eyes, "I promise I will make it up to you."

"Isn't that sweet?" Yang said, Aero chucking softly at her as Weiss shook her head and pulled his hands off her shoulders, "So, what's the plan?"

"Scarlet?"

"Oh, right, sorry," he said, looking up from Ruby after a quick kiss, "I was thinking we could split up."

"Split up?" Sun asked, "Dude, the hell is wrong with you?"

"Hang on, hear me out. What happened here can't happen again, it's too easy for the Guild to attack again and take us all out. The mansion needs to be repaired, why not split up? Lila, you seem to really enjoy these two, so why not come with me, Ruby and Yang to Patch? And Sebastian, you could use some weapon training, why not head with Sun and Blake to Vacuo? Weiss still needs guarding so Aero can go with her to Mistral or Vale."

"That all sounds good, except I kinda have a problem with my situation," Weiss spoke up, Aero looking at her with concern.

"Is this about yesterday?"

"As in?"

"Your demeanor to me changed after you ran back to the boardroom."

"I know."

"So it does have to do with yesterday."

"And?"

"What is it? What did I do?" Aero asked, the air getting thick with tension. Everyone except Sebastian, Aero and Lila knew what was coming. Weiss breathed in slowly and looked Aero dead in the eyes.

"Who are you?"

"What?" Aero asked, confused at the question.

"Who are you really?"

"I'm Aero Lewis Kalo if that's what you're asking, you know that."

"Do I?" Weiss asked, rummaging in a bag and pulling out a piece of paper, "Because according to this, you died seven years ago."

Aero snatched the paper from her hand, ignoring her complaint as he sat on the steps and read it over. It was an obituary for Aero Lewis Kalo, which confused the assassin until he looked down, his eyes going wide at the author of the piece. He tried to say something but couldn't, his mouth being left slightly open as he slowly put the piece of paper to the side, looked down then back up at the group.

"Seven years ago I completed my first mission for the Guild. After that I returned home in the opening hours of the day. I thought my mother had already left for her shift at the mine, instead she caught me coming in through the window of our apartment. We argued and she was shocked and disgusted with who I had become. I'll never forget what she told me: 'You are no son of mine… I'll just tell my friends that my son passed away and I had a private ceremony.'"

Everyone except Sebastian looked at Aero with saddened eyes as the assassin stood up and turned to Weiss.

"The reason why I didn't tell you is because I just wanted to forget it all," he said quietly, walking past her and the group upstairs to his room. Everyone looked at one another, too shocked to say anything until Lila looked at Sebastian.

"You knew."

"Hell I witnessed it."

"Why didn't you guys tell me?"

"Lila, sometimes you can't tell someone everything. I understand if you're hurt," he said, rubbing her back, "but I'm sure he would've told you."

"Yeah," she said with a twinge of hurt in her voice. She got up and walked upstairs with everyone else, packing up their things and getting ready to leave the mansion. Weiss noticed Aero's door was ajar and peeked inside, not seeing him then knocking on it. She knocked again after a few seconds, hearing Aero yell that it was open. She walked in and looked around until she noted the balcony doors were open and found Aero leaning on the rail looking at the mountain behind the mansion, enjoying the peace and calm that contrasted the scene in the lobby an hour ago. She walked up and stood next to him, staying silent until he spoke up.

"I take it Winter found all that information."

"She did."

"Figured. Probably just looking out for you."

"She was," she replied, more silence following as Aero breathed in the fresh air, a slight breeze rolling through the area, "Look Aero-"

"You don't have to apologize Weiss," he said, stopping her, causing her to look up at him, "I knew you were going to apologize."

"Well I am sorry. I didn't mean for it to dredge up horrible memories, I was just looking out for my friends."

"I know Weiss," Aero said, leaving the balcony and walking back to his room. He started to pack then turned to her.

"You sure you still want me to go with you? I can go with Sun and Blake, Sebastian can tag along with you."

"I would rather have my bodyguard," she said, a small smile on her lips that came to Aero's face as well. She patted his hand then departed, letting Aero finish packing until Sebastian and Lila walked in.

"So, I'll still give you guys missions but you're gonna be on your own, so for the love of all that is good be careful," Sebastian said to Lila and loud enough for Aero to hear, "Oh and I need to see your weapons Aero."

"Why?"

"Just let me see them," he said. Aero handed his short blades, sword and pistols over to Sebastian, who held them in his hands and moved them around slowly, getting a feel for them then handed them back.

"And that was for?"

"Nothing," Sebastian said with a smile, "Almost ready?"

"Yeah," he said, slowly placing his weapons back in his suitcase, closing it and looking up at Lila, who looked back at him.

"I feel like a broken record when I say this, but I'm sorry Lila."

"Why do you feel like a broken record?"

"I've said 'I'm sorry' a lot the past month. And I am for not telling you. That day was just really hard on me and I didn't know how to deal with it, ya know? I honestly didn't know how to tell anyone 'yeah, my mom just told me I'm dead to her.' It just slipped my mind afterwards, it honestly did. I'm sorry."

"It's okay Aero," she said, hugging him. He hugged her back and held her for a few moments before letting go.

"Well, Weiss already has a private airship that will move us all around Remnant. Ready to head out?"

"Ready."

* * *

 **"Sounds good," Lila said, putting the call in as Aero ran in front of her. He dashed across the rooftops, jumped down to the street and crashed through the front doors of the building, shocking the three inside the lobby.**

 **"Room for one? Man I've always wanted to say that," he said as they looked at him with anger while he strolled to the front desk.**


	9. Chillin' and Killin'

**So, change of plans: that idea I've had I'm gonna use for a spec script, which is pretty cool. Better idea: me and a fellow writer are going to collab on a new story that you guys are going to love! Hope you guys enjoy this chapter and I'll see you next week! Please review, fav, all that good stuff!**

* * *

Chapter 9

Sebastian shuffled into the living room and collapsed on the couch, a look of anger, disgust and agitation on his face as he found the remote and turned on the local news, making sure the volume stayed low. It had been a week since everyone had split up and Sebastian was feeling like he got the worst of the split.

"Fucking shoot me," he said to himself, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. He wore checkered red and black pants with a white t-shirt for pajamas, getting up from the nice tan couch and walking into the adjoining kitchen. The kitchen was nice, with a new stove, refrigerator, cabinets and dishwasher with cream colored walls, the appliances and cabinets all being darker then the walls. Sebastian walked across the top of the tiles slowly, reaching the refrigerator and grabbing some ingredients to make a nice breakfast for the three of them, even though he thought Blake and Sun didn't deserve it. He began to cook and heard a low yawn behind him, turning to see Blake in the same robe she had worn at Beacon, her cat ears low, matching her eyes as she moved over to Sebastian.

"Morning Sebastian," she said, Sebastian having to lean over because of how low she said it.

"Good morning Blake, sleep well?"

"I did."

"I bet," Sebastian said under his breath.

"Ready to keep training?" she asked as she sat down at the glass and metal dinner table.

"Can't wait, I'm starting to get the hang of it. I do need to go see a weapon smith however, I need to order a few things."

"Oh?"

"For Aero," Sebastian said, looking over the eggs and bacon that was cooking. He heard a loud sound and turned to see Sun in the doorway, walking over to Blake and kissing her on top of her head then over to Sebastian.

"Sup dude."

"Nothing much Sun."

"Sleep well last night?"

"Just peachy," Sebastian said with a fake smile, finishing what he was cooking and getting plates down for himself and the two Hunters. He plated the food and handed it to them, each enjoying the food in silence as they casually talked about small things. The apartment was located in the heart of the kingdom of Vacuo and was in a modern apartment complex, being on the first floor and having a lot of room for them to practice and put their various items. It had two bedrooms, one bath, the kitchen, dining room and living room along with a another small room that they used for training along with floor space to train.

"You heard from Lila or Aero?" Blake asked, more perked up and awake as she ate.

"Kinda. They're enjoying their times with everyone, so at least they're having fun."

"You're not?" Sun asked.

"Of course I am and hell you guys are training me to use swords, which I have to admit is really badass."

"Oh that's good."

"Of course… see, I understand this is your apartment, I completely get that. You guys are married and haven't had that much private time. You guys can do whatever you want, I have no problem whatsoever with whatever you guys do. But I will say this: the wall between our rooms is pretty thin, I hope you realize that," Sebastian said, getting up as Blake choked on her food while Sun spat his out. Sebastian shook his head at the two of them, who looked down at the food, their faces reflecting embarrassment as he walked to his room, a smirk on his face.

* * *

"Oh you gotta be fucking with me," Lila said, looking around the living room and sighing to herself. Yang, Ruby and Scarlet owned a small abode that was eight blocks away from their father's house on Patch, similar homes lining the road in a typical community with the forest surrounding them. It was a brick house that on the inside had different painted walls, ranging from light brown and orange to red and grey. Lila had stepped from her room in a light green robe, her hair in a short ponytail and was witnessing what a late night party was for the three. Ruby was laying on top of Scarlet, her head resting on his chest, the two laying on the couch. Below them Yang was sprawled on the floor and was lightly snoring. Lila looked at the three in disbelief but with a smile, noting how for the first week everything had actually been fine and she had grown closer to the three of them.

"Guys?" she asked, nudging Yang's head with her foot, causing the Huntress to roll over and mumble something.

"Guys," she said louder, this time Ruby moving ever so slightly and Scarlet wrapping an arm around her.

"Guys!" she yelled, causing all Ruby and Scarlet to shoot up while Yang rolled back over and opened her eyes a little.

"Oh… morning Lil…" was all Ruby could say before closing her eyes again. Lila sighed and smacked Ruby's foot, waking the Huntress up fully.

"Ow! The hell?"

"The hell? Why are you asking me that? What the hell happened last night? I was knocked out at 11."

"I know. We decided to stay up until… what time is it?"

"It's 10 in the morning."

"We decided to stay up until 5 for some gaming and movies."

"Oh jeez."

"We do this every Friday," Scarlet said, sitting up slowly as Lila nudged Yang again, who sat up and looked Lila up and down with groggy eyes.

"Oh, morning-"

"Yes, good morning Yang, glad you could join us."

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed," Yang said, Ruby and Scarlet chuckling as Lila rolled her eyes.

"Look, I'm sorry, after a week I got used to us getting up and training and-"

"And we understand Lila. But you were so chilled at Weiss's, why are you reverting back?" Scarlet asked.

"Honestly, I think because I thought of that week as a vacation and Saunin's attack was a wake-up call. I don't want to see you guys, Aero or Sebastian hurt."

"They and we won't be," Yang said with a smile, getting up and stretching, "Because we are going to kick their asses and you won't let that happen period. Relax Lila," Yang said, rubbing Lila's back.

"Let's just take today as an easy day. Besides, if I remember correctly, someone spoke up about saying how cool Huntress weapons are."

"And?"

"And it just so happens Signal Academy is in session, which means only one person can help us," Yang said with a grin, Ruby's eyes getting bigger as Lila and Scarlet looked at the two of them.

"Who?"

"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby exclaimed, jumping off her boyfriend's body in the process. Soon enough the four of them had gotten dressed and were out the door, Lila excited to ditch her old weapons and acquire a new one.

* * *

"So, then I said 'Come on Bobby, they ain't doing shit!' and next thing you know I'm literally thrown out the door for the second time that day," Aero said, Weiss smiling and shaking her head at him.

"Wow, you made him that mad huh?"

"Well when he wants to talk crap about my team when his had a shitty defense and didn't make it to the playoffs the previous five years, yeah, I'm gonna make him that mad," Aero said, finishing his sugary morning meal. For the two of them, being in Mistral had been calming and exciting, especially for Aero since he had never been to the kingdom for a vacation, only for missions. Over the whole week the two had gotten to know each other a lot better after the incident about Aero's past and had spent a lot more time together, greatly enjoying each other's company, with both noting to themselves that living together felt natural somehow.

"So, what are the plans today? Any meetings or anything special?"

"I need to get come some casual clothes, the Hunter Council is having a gathering for all the Hunters in a few days."

"Don't you have enough clothes?"

"Oh shut it," Weiss said, waving him off as she got up and put her dishes in the sink. The apartment Weiss owned was large and spacious, resting at the top of a 12-story apartment complex that was mainly inhabited by the upper class. Her apartment had its own pool, training room, three bedrooms each with their own bathrooms, a large spacious living room, kitchen and dining room. Each room was painted in shades of white and blue, matching the Schnee aesthetic while also having the latest technology.

Aero walked to his room and peeked across the living room to Weiss's, watching her as she looked out the window and sighed to herself. He smiled to himself, his eyes lingering as Weiss turned around and spotted him staring. Aero waved while putting on a goofy smile, making the heiress giggle as she closed her door. Aero had realized that he had slowly developed feelings for Weiss but was doing his best not to show it, afraid to put her in a bad situation if something were to happen to him. He himself quickly got dressed in slacks, a white undershirt and matching jacket and waited for Weiss, who came out in her alternate, black and white uniform.

"Nice job trying to cover up your staring," Weiss said, Aero turning red.

"Ah whatever," he said, the two walking out to an elevator and heading to the first floor, where a limo waited for them.

"Hopefully no attacks this time," Aero said, his arms crossed over his chest as he peered out the window. Mistral had the old look of Vale in its neighborhoods and the modern look of the kingdom of Atlas with its centers and high-rise buildings.

"I hope so," Weiss said, looking with him and enjoying the view. They got out at a large mall and shopped around for a few hours, Aero quickly becoming her bag boy. They were almost done when they walked inside a men's clothing store.

"Okay, last I checked, you don't wear this kind of stuff," Aero said, both of his arms carrying three bags each.

"True, but you could use a new wardrobe."

"Weiss, I don't-"

"Aero, get some damn shirts and pants," Weiss said with a cold stare that somewhat scared Aero, who nodded quickly, setting the bags near her and looking around. He came back to her, his arms carrying three jeans and four shirts, which Weiss looked at with disgust.

"What?"

"Why black?"

"Why not?"

"Almost everything you wear is black."

"I literally grew up on it."

"At least Lila throws in some greens!"

"Because she's a girl that likes some accents!"

"Oh so now only a girl can like colors!"

"I didn't- fuck it I'm going to lose this fight, I'll go look around some more," Aero said, throwing his hands in the air, flinging the clothing everywhere and infuriating Weiss. Aero returned minutes later with shirts that had accents of white, silver, black and blue on them.

"Better?"

"Much," Weiss said, holding her hand out to take the shirts as Aero picked up the bags, only to put them back down when his Scroll rang.

"Aero… sup Seb?... really?... okay, sounds good… Shopping right now, you said Vale right?... Yes, shopping… Yes I'm carrying her things… shut the hell up, I'll be there tomorrow asshole… bye."

"Sebastian?"

"He has a mission for Lila and I."

"At least you got new clothes."

"At least I got to spend time with you," Aero said with a smile that Weiss copied as she paid for everything, the two returning to the apartment in no time. It was there Aero quickly went to his room, put his new clothing away and changed into combat uniform. Since the attack, Aero had it outfitted with pieces of armor and had changed the shirt: instead of being all black, it was black on top but faded to dark blue near the bottom. It also now sported a hood along with a built in mask that hid his lips and nose.

"You'll be gone for a day I take it?" Weiss asked from the couch.

"That I will be, so no wild parties," Aero said as he slid his hidden blades in slots on top of his forearms he had on the shirt and locked them in place.

"Be careful," Weiss said as he approached the door, causing Aero to stop and walk back to her.

"I will be, I promise," Aero said, lightly gripping her hand and squeezing it. She squeezed back and watched him leave, leaving her alone to her thoughts, which were now complicated and confusing.

* * *

"Check this shit out!" Lila said, holding a rifle in her arms. Aero looked at her with a big grin that she matched as she twirled it around effortlessly.

"When did you get good with that?"

"Ruby, Yang and their Uncle Qrow."

"Kickass. May I?" Aero asked, holding his hand out, Lila gladly obliging. Aero turned the rifle over in his hand, noting the intricate dark green and yellow paint job on it, aiming down the iron sights and noting the guns weight.

"Nice and light, fits you."

"As does this," Lila said, hitting a button near where the magazine went in. The stock collapsed in her hand, the barrel rotated and splayed out, forming a blade. Aero looked in sheer amazement as the rifle had formed into a sword in her hand.

"Holy fuck you have a Hunter weapon."

"I have a motherfucking Hunter weapon!" she exclaimed as the two high-fived. Lila's Scroll went off at that moment, which she pulled out to a smiling Sebastian.

"Hey guys."

"Sup Seb?" Aero asked over Lila's shoulder as she rested the blade on a magnet that was on the middle of her back thanks to a new harness she wore that also housed her pistols and throwing knives.

"Nothing much. Simple mission: take down that hotel that the Guild uses as a front. Got it?"

"Take out the occupants?"

"You can if you want, I've double checked the people there and every person is a member of the Guild. I just sent both of you schematics of the building. Best of luck," Sebastian said, the video cutting out and being replaced with a 3D model of the building.

"That's two blocks away. Doesn't it have a boiler room?"

"Yeah why?" Aero asked as he looked at the model on his own Scroll.

"You provide the distraction I'll blow it up?"

"Causing a massive fire… I like it. Tell Seb that we're gonna need him to re-route fire trucks to let the place burn."

"Sounds good," Lila said, putting the call in as Aero ran in front of her. He dashed across the rooftops, jumped down to the street and crashed through the front doors of the building, shocking the three inside the lobby.

"Room for one? Man I've always wanted to say that," he said as they looked at him with anger while he strolled to the front desk.

"You guys really aren't assassins are you?" he asked and was met with a punch from the female worker while the male lunged over the counter and tackled. Aero pushed him off and threw a knife at the woman as she made a call, the knife piercing her heart as she dropped the phone. Aero returned his attention to the male and stabbed him with a hidden blade before another jumped on Aero's back, banging on his chest. Aero threw him off and stared down his opponent, who looked behind Aero and grinned. Aero looked confused until he turned around and saw eleven fully geared assassins in the lobby.

"Well fuck. Lila!" he said into his head set as the eleven charged ahead with an assortment of weapons. Aero avoided all of them as his partner kicked the front doors down, aimed with her new rifle and opened fire, hitting three in their backs and shooting the man who had attacked Aero squarely in the head. Aero turned with his pistols in hand and shot a couple more until they were knocked from his hands, forcing Aero to draw his sword and wade into four as two charged at Lila. Aero held one overhead strike until one kicked his leg out, the attacker's sword cleaving into Aero's hand as he fell to the ground. Meanwhile Lila expertly parried a blow, stabbed the second in the chest, turned around, grabbed the woman's arm and turned it so her own blade pierced her throat. Lila quickly reformed her rifle and downed two more, allowing Aero to get up while nursing his hand. The last two rushed Lila, who easily ducked a blow, formed her sword and stabbed one in the back of the head than cut diagonally across the others chest than back.

"Damn this thing is badass," she said, looking over her weapon before running to Aero, who was wincing at his new wound. She looked down and saw that the blade had cleaved a quarter of an inch into the palm of his hand.

"Shit this hurts… why do I get all the injuries?" he asked as they walked from the lobby and across the street.

"No clue. You going to be okay?"

"I'll stitch it up later," he said as they walked away, "Wait, the furnace."

"Oh, right," she said, pulling out a detonator, "That furnace?" and with those remarks Lila pushed the button, sending an explosion through the basement of the building, which collapsed moments later from the structural damage.

"You did that on purpose."

"Damn straight I did. Let's get you to a hospital."

* * *

The next evening Aero was in front of the door to Weiss's apartment, his hand in a proper bandage. He couldn't arrive sooner because of his injury, which would take a week to heal, and because of horrible weather that was still pounding Mistral. Aero could hear the rain pouring on the roof as he made his way into the darkened apartment.

"Weiss, I'm back," he said, looking around and noting that her door was open. He drew a pistol in his left hand, aimed it at the door and walked towards it, slowly opening it and turning into the room only to see the sleeping heiress. He smiled, quietly closed her door and walked back to his room, setting his equipment down and changing. He slipped into his bed and closed his eyes, beginning to drift to sleep until a scream rang out. He rolled out of his bed, grabbed his pistol and ran to Weiss's room, bashing the door open with his shoulder and aiming his pistol around the room. He looked around, noting Weiss sitting up, her hand on her chest that was moving up and down heavily. He moved over to her, aiming his pistol at the doorway and looked at her.

"You okay? What happened?"

"N-nothing, just a bad nightmare… the Guild had come here and had attacked," she said, closing her eyes and laying back on her bed.

"Nothing else?" Aero said, rubbing her arm with his good hand while the other held the pistol.

"No," she said, rolling over and noticing his bandaged hand, "What happened?"

"Guy cut me good on my hand, I'm alright," Aero said, patting her arm as he flipped the safety back on his pistol and slipped it into a pocket on his pajama bottoms.

"I'm sorry Aero."

"Ah don't be," he said, walking out of the room and coming back with a chair.

"What in the world?"

"I'll set it up next to the door and I'll just sleep like this tonight."

"There is no way-"

"Weiss, it'll ease your mind, it's okay," Aero said with a smile as he sat down on it and laid his head back against the wall, "Besides, I've had to sleep in way worse conditions."

He closed his eyes, Weiss still eyeing him until she rolled over and closed her eyes again. Soon enough she was asleep again, something Aero noted with his enhanced hearing. Knowing she had fallen back asleep, Aero allowed himself to drift off, getting some much needed rest.

* * *

 **"I rarely apologize but I see that I need to. I was wrong about you. Here I was thinking you were only helping her for the money and name but I saw how you acted with her Aero. You have feelings for her," she said with a grin. Aero couldn't help but chuckle as he turned to her.**

 **"That obvious huh?"**

 **"No, but women can tell about these things. I will say this much, you better treat her right. What you did to Neptune I wanted to do for a long while. I better not have to do it to you."**

 **"You won't."**


	10. An Exchanging of Words and Fists

**Man these weeks seem long at points then really short at other points, weird. Anyway, fall is here in Viriginia, yay that and in better news I have officially finished Renegade and the two chapters of Uprising! Woot! Be back here next week for some heavy shit to go down! Review, fav and follow! Much love to everyone who has read any chapter here and I'll see you guys next Monday!**

* * *

Chapter 10

Three days later Aero and Weiss stood near the entrance of a convention center in the heart of Vale, talking with one another and enjoying each other's company. Weiss was wearing a white jacket over an ice blue shirt with white slacks and matching heels, her hair in its offset ponytail. Aero wore one of his new silver long sleeve shirts that faded to white at the wrists and jeans with boots. They had been standing for only a few minutes when Weiss displayed a big smile on her face, making Aero turn around and smile with her.

"Well I'll be," he said, walking forward and embracing Lila as Ruby, Yang and Scarlet walked past the two to Weiss.

"How's the hand?" Lila asked Aero as she examined his right hand. She wore jeans and had a green shirt on with a white outline and had her hair in a ponytail.

"Slowly but surely getting better. How have those three been?" he asked, motioning to the Hunters who were talking amongst each other.

"A lot of fun. They have their lazy moments but we've had a blast together. You and Weiss?"

"Peaceful," Aero said, his eyes lingering on the Huntress, "Nothing really going on, just having fun and relaxing."

"Seems like you are doing a lot more than relaxing," Lila said, nudging Aero's ribs, who smacked her hand away as Yang walked over and hugged him. She was wearing a yellow crop top with black shorts that had her emblem on them. Ruby was wearing her combat uniform and Scarlet wore a white t-shirt with beige pants and matching boots sans the jacket that was always over his shoulder.

"She hasn't been too much trouble has she?"

"Well-"

"Hey!" Lila said, Yang and Aero chuckling at her reaction as Blake, Sun and Sebastian walked up to them, who was lugging a briefcase that confused Aero.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know you were presenting," he said, making the party laugh as Sebastian rolled his eyes.

"Gone for a week and still a jackass, what a shock. This was for you, but I may just keep it for myself."

"Okay wait I take it back!" Aero said, trailing after his friend as he began to walk away, everyone laughing at the two as the Hunters caught back up with each other. Blake was wearing her old alternate uniform while Sun wore jean shorts and a white and black t-shirt that was unbuttoned sans red gauntlets. Sebastian turned to Aero and looked at him.

"I don't know if I should give this to you now."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I just-"

"Damn it Seb, come on!"

"Oh fine you whiner," he said with a chuckle as he handed Aero the briefcase, who popped it open. Aero's eyes went wide at what he saw: two new pistols, two new shorts blades and a sword handle with a circular cross guard attached at the top.

"You got me new weapons?"

"That I did. I figured that since you were fighting the Guild, you shouldn't be using their weapons but your own. The two pistols are the same as your old ones this time made of steel with your initials on the barrel. The blades have been dyed with a light blue pigmentation and you have a new sword, which has been rebalanced for the cross guard. It also now activates when only you grab it thanks to a palm scanner: when you squeeze, the blade comes out, relax your grip and the blade slides back into the hilt. I also had them remake your hidden blades, this time with an intricate design on the blades themselves and in all black," he said, pulling out the blades slowly and triggering them so Aero could see them for himself. He looked over all of it and looked at his friend with a genuine smile on his face.

"Thank you Sebastian."

"No need to. I knew Lila was probably going to get an upgrade so I thought you could use some. Besides, think of it as a way of me saying thanks for being a brother," he said with a smile. Aero closed the briefcase and hugged his best friend, who returned it as Lila joined in, making the three laugh and turn to the Hunters, who were watching them. The group shared a laugh as they made their way into the convention hall, noting all the open booths.

"So, this is an annual thing?" Aero asked Weiss as he walked along, the briefcase in his hand.

"Semi. The Council does this when it can. It's a way for all Hunters to meet up and have a relaxing night, others can sell their trades and we're given an overview of how things are going, what needs to improve, etc."

"So if you guys are here, who's killing Grimm?" Lila asked.

"The kingdoms have their armies on standby and have increased numbers at the edges and in villages outside the kingdoms," Blake answered.

"Fascinating," Sebastian said, looking over a forked sword that turned into a rifle and another weapon that was an automatic shotgun that Yang was eyeing as well. They made their way to a center area, where a stage was surrounded by Hunters and Huntress's. Soon an elder man walked onto the stage, being met with applause by everyone. The man talked for an hour about the pride of being a Hunter, about the good work all of them had done and about the new defensive improvements each kingdom had. They were all adjourned an hour later after more talks, allowing the group to continue looking around.

"So, we're just gonna walk around-"

"No you dolt, we're looking for some friends," Weiss said to Aero, stopping when Ruby yelled in excitement and used her semblance to rush forward. She tackled a blonde to the ground, who exclaimed in surprise at the sudden force, his friends laughing at him while the rest of the group caught up. The blonde stood up and brushed his black, long sleeve shirt sleeves, talking with Ruby. He wore the shirt along with jeans, brown shoes and had red armor on his shoulders, chest and forearms. Standing next to him was a woman in a casual maroon dress that matched her long hair in a ponytail that did not hide a baby bump. The dress had golden accents and she wore small golden hoop earrings that complimented everything, including the gold band with three diamonds on her left ring finger. To her right was a woman in a black collared vest with a white sleeveless top with a pink heart design on the shirt that matched her gloves and skirt but contrasted her orange hair. On her left ring finger was a golden band with a diamond, a pink stone and a green stone that matched the gentleman next to her. He was holding hands with her and had jet black hair with a line of pink in it. He wore a green and black tailcoat with golden trimming and pink cuffs along with light tan pants.

"Oh my gosh Jaune! It's been to long!" Ruby said as the group finally approached her and the others.

"I take it these are the friends?" Aero asked, leaning down to Weiss to whisper, who nodded.

"Team JNPR: Jaune Arc, his wife Pyrrha, Lie Ren and his wife Nora."

"Aw adorable," Aero said as the rest of RWBY walked by him and said hello to their friends.

"Aw Pyrrha, how far along?" Blake asked.

"About four months," she said with a glowing smile.

"Damn Jaune, I didn't think you had it in you," Yang said, making the other blonde glare at her as everyone laughed. Nora looked and spotted Aero, Sebastian and Lila talking amongst themselves, running to Aero and pulling him by his arm to the group.

"Ah what the hell?!"

"Who's this guy Weiss? Your…" she stopped, adding a dramatic pause, "date?"

"Funny. No, he's my bodyguard, Aero."

"Aero Kalo," he said, freeing his arm and shaking hands with everyone from JNPR, "Nice to meet you guys."

"Same to you," Ren said, looking at the other two and motioning for them to come over, "I take it these two are your friends?"

"Fellow bodyguards."

"Ah."

"Sebastian Damper, I'm with Blake and Sun."

"Lila Evergreen, I'm with the last three."

"Nice. So uh, why bodyguards?" Jaune asked, confused.

"Well my house got attacked last week-"

"Looks like Aero took a blow for you," Pyrrha said, spotting his bandaged hand, who looked down with her and flexed his fingers slowly.

"You know, work place hazard," he said, earning a few chuckles from everyone.

"Are you guys okay? I saw the report a week ago, sorry we didn't call."

"No need to apologize Ren, I'm sure you and Nora were busy," Ruby said, Nora grinning and causing Ren to tap her on the back of her head, "We're all good."

"Well I got a bit fucked up," Sun said.

"Ditto," Scarlet chimed in. The group casually talked for another twenty minutes, Aero hearing multiple tales from when Ruby and Jaune met to the tournament to them taking down Roman and Cinder. Each of the three reveled in the stories and got to tell some of their own albeit altered to fit their new occupations better. The two groups said goodbye to each other and turned to leave, except Weiss was caught on the shoulder by someone.

"Well I haven't seen you in a while," the man said with a twinkling smile. He wore a red jacket that clashed with his bright blue hair with grey and orange goggles resting on his forehead. He wore jeans with patches of armor on the side and underneath the jacket he wore a white dress shirt and black tie that matched his fingerless gloves.

"I wonder why," Weiss said, shrugging his hand off and walking faster to catch up to the group, but was stopped again.

"Weiss, come on-"

"No Neptune, I'm not doing this again. I gave you too many chances."

"Look it's not my fault-"

"Not your fault? Not your fucking fault?" she said louder, Aero picking her voice up thanks to his bat ears and turning to see her face contorted in fury.

"Uh guys."

"Oh shit," Sun said, walking quickly over to the two of them.

"Who's that?"

"Long story short: Weiss's ex of seven years who cheated on her three times," Ruby said. Aero gave the briefcase to Yang and ran to catch up to Sun and the two made their way over.

"Hey Weiss," Aero said, causing her to stop mid-tirade at Neptune and look at him, "Limo is leaving, come on," Aero said, holding his hand out to her, which was knocked away by Neptune.

"Dude, interrupting a conversation, even though it was mainly one-way."

"Neptune, just stop man," Sun said, getting in between Aero and Neptune as Weiss moved over to him.

"Why? Who is he?"

"Her bodyguard."

"And? I can take his ass no problem."

"Think so? You know, last time someone said that, I told them not to underestimate an opponent and I killed that guy. Wanna try again?"

"Psh, please, bring it on bat boy," Neptune said, Aero lunging at him but stopped by Sun.

"Dude, dude! Stop!" he said, pushing Aero back. At this time the crowd of Hunters had formed into a circle, allowing the four of them room. Weiss held his arm as he went to lunge again, stopping Aero, who looked down at her and nodded his head.

"Let's go," Aero said, the three turning and leaving Neptune.

"Oh really? You ended up with a faunus?"

"He's a helluva lot better than you are Neptune!" Weiss yelled. Neptune growled and charged forward, roughly knocking her aside and viciously turning Aero around and punching him in the face. Aero stumbled back and held his hand up to Sun, who was about to intervene. He pointed to Weiss and stared down Neptune, allowing him to charge as Sun went to Weiss. Aero met him halfway with his shoulder, flooring the Hunter, who quickly rolled away from a boot coming down on his chest. Neptune quickly got up and threw a variety of punches and kicks that Aero avoided until one hit him directly on his wounded hand. He cried out in pain, giving him the chance to land a hard uppercut to Aero's jaw, lifting him off his feet and onto the floor. He impacted the ground hard, the room seeming to spin as the Hunter got on top and raised a fist. He kept punching the assassin until he grabbed Neptune's hand and wrenched it to the side, using his weight to get Neptune off him.

"You know, it's funny, what did I just say about under estimating an opponent?" he asked. Before Neptune could answer, Aero pulled him to his feet only to knee him in the gut then his forehead, bringing Neptune down to his knees and allowing Aero to punch him square in the jaw with his bandaged hand. He winced as Sebastian turned him around.

"You done?" he asked as he pulled Aero to Weiss, who was laying on the ground and taking short, harsh breaths while Sun and Ruby kneeled next to her. Aero looked at her in a panic and moved next to her, gently squeezing her arm.

"What the hell is wrong? Weiss?" he said, his head now over hers as he looked into her terrified eyes.

"Quick diagnosis is a panic attack. Just calm her down, that's the best you can do, I've already called an ambulance. Don't move her, she's shaking and probably has horrible balance," Sebastian said to Aero as he turned to everyone else, "Anyway we can move the crowd around?"

"We're on it," Blake said, turning to her partner and nodding, the two immediately turning to the crowd to have them disperse. Neptune walked away with other Hunters, eyeing Aero down as Sage walked over to the group.

"Holy hell what in the world just happened?" he asked Scarlet. Sage still had his spiked hair and now sported a color reversal of what he wore during his days at Beacon. He sported green pants, a black trenchcoat that was open with a white side design on it. He had new tattoos on his chest and still wore the leather harness on his right arm along with the gold armor on his right shoulder.

"Bruh."

"What?"

"Dude, you wouldn't believe half this shit," Scarlet said, helping Sebastian, Lila, Blake and Yang as Ruby and Sun watched Weiss and Aero, who was cooing in her ear.

"Weiss, it's me, calm down, look at me," he cooed, holding her head with his left hand while brushing her cheek with the back of his bandaged hand, "It's okay, breathe Weiss, deep breaths, deep breaths," he said, moving his wounded hand to hers and holding it, trying to stop the trembling. She looked at him and started to calm down, sweat rolling down the side of her head as she began to breathe slowly.

"There you go," Aero said, smiling at her as he returned his hand to her cheek. She brought her hand up to his and squeezed it gently, Aero scarcely wincing at the pain it caused. She had a shaky smile that Ruby and Sun returned as Ruby rubbed her shoulder while Sun patted Aero on the back. A minute later the paramedics arrived and lead her away, leaving the three alone as the rest of the team had went with the paramedics.

"She'll be fine," Aero said, flexing his hand and noticing that the bandage was wet, meaning the wound had re-opened.

"Are you okay?" Sun asked.

"I'm fine, just need some new stitches."

"Aero?" Ruby asked with a teasing grin.

"Don't make me," he said, the three sharing a moment as they went to the door and met up with the team. Weiss was sitting on the back of an ambulance, a blanket around her shoulders, Ruby running over to her as Yang and Lila comforted her while Sun joined everyone else and conversed with them. Aero stood at the top of the steps and was about to go down them when he heard someone clear their throat behind him, making him turn around.

"Hello Winter," he said, slowly putting his left hand in his pocket as the older Schnee walked up to him.

"Aero," she said, stopping next to him and looking at the scene.

"Does she have a history of panic attacks?"

"No, this is the first. She probably got it when Neptune pushed her then assaulted you."

"Was he abusive?"

"No, he just didn't care, and it still shows," Winter said with a bite, rubbing her temple with her hand.

"Don't worry the media won't find out about it."

"Oh I know they won't, I'm not concerned with that," she said, turning to him, "It's more of a personal matter," she said, confusing Aero.

"I don't follow."

"I rarely apologize but I see that I need to. I was wrong about you. Here I was thinking you were only helping her for the money and name but I saw how you acted with her Aero. You have feelings for her," she said with a grin. Aero couldn't help but chuckle as he turned to her.

"Apparently everyone can tell. That obvious huh?"

"Not exactly but women can tell about these things. I will say this much, you better treat her right. What you did to Neptune I wanted to do for a long while. I better not have to do it to you."

"You won't."

"Confident… I like that. I'm sorry I informed her about your past."

"You were just worried and being a good older sister Winter, I understand."

"Thank you," she said, holding her hand out to him, which he took lightly into his hurt one and shook.

"So everything is good?"

"I believe so. I do have a question."

"Go ahead."

"Why her?" Winter asked. Aero looked at her, stared at Weiss and thought to himself before smiling.

"Because I see a lot of me in her… not the most positive upbringings, felt alone, small group of friends… but under all that, past the ice is someone with a warm heart. Someone that cares and is willing to do whatever it takes. When it comes to your sister, I can't help but smile, it just feels so natural to be with her. We just gel so well together," he said with a smile. Winter smiled with him and patted his shoulder.

"Take care Aero and take better care of my sister."

"Will do," he said, walking down the stairs past the group and to Weiss as Winter returned inside. Lila stayed while Yang went over to Sage and began talking to him.

"How you doing?"

"I'm okay," she said in a wavering voice, "Thank you."

"No need Weiss," Aero said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and squeezing them.

"I'll leave you two alone," Lila said with a smile and a nudge of Aero's boot as she left. Weiss looked at Aero then wrapped her arms around him, something he returned and rubbed her back slowly, enjoying the moment while it lasted.

* * *

 **Aero groaned, his body throbbing in pain as a small explosion sent bits of hot metal around him, some glancing off his face along with light rain that fell from the clouds as he sat up and looked around. The train was a burning, hulking, mangled twist of metal that barely resembled what was there mere minutes ago. He stood up slowly, his legs wobbly and his lack of balance causing him to fall back down.**

 **"Guys…" he said, barely audible, a low, raspy voice that Aero could not believe was his.**

 **"Guys," he said louder, standing up and looking around, trying to spot anyone.**


	11. The Worst Possible Outcome

**Posted this without my weekly message, whoops. In a bit of a hurry, so I hope everyone has had a great week and I hope you guys like this chapter. Honestly, when I began to write Renegade, these were the chapters I wanted to get to the most, so I hope that shows! Have a great week guys and I'll see you next Monday! Please review, fav, all that jazz!**

* * *

Chapter 11

"So, this one is so big everyone is getting involved, including me," Sebastian said at the dinner table as everyone listened, a week since the gala and that meant returning to business and taking down the Guild and its allies. In front of him was a large blueprint for a warehouse that he had acquired online, everyone standing the newly repaired Schnee manor. The repairmen had finished replacing the front doors, repainting the walls and putting in new floors and everyone had been back in their rooms for the past three days.

"Since no one here is buddy-buddy with the White Fang and they want to help the Guild, I think it's time we sent them a message."

"And you think you can help out with that?" Lila asked

"Hey, a month's training has done wonders," he said, Aero rolling his eyes at Sebastian's confidence as he continued, "The plan is simple. The White Fang are dealing weapons to make a bit of profit to help fund their men and the Guild are going to give them a few bodyguards. They want to move these weapons to a train at 1AM. We are gonna get there at 12 AM, beat em'up and turn the weapons over. It's small, but no weapons means no one can possibly mobilize and the loss of money means they struggle and the Guild loses faith in them. Questions?"

"Points of attack?" Aero said, walking over to Sebastian and looking at the map with him.

"Front doors, side and rear. Surprise and condense them, giving them no chance of escape."

"Who's where?"

"Yang, Scarlet, Ruby and Lila take the front. Blake, Sun and I the back, you and Weiss the side. The three of us will begin the attack, then you and Weiss then the four of you."

"Doing it in steps to slowly drop their morale until it's practically gone. Smart Seb," Lila said, everyone agreeing as he smiled.

"Well at least someone appreciates me," he said, earning a nudge from Aero as he stared down at the blueprints.

"How far away is the train?" Ruby asked.

"About three miles away."

"Why not two teams? You know, send one to the train station and the other to the warehouse? Seems like a better option," Sun said with a shrug.

"He has a point, that way we can cut off any possible stragglers and whatever guns may already be on the train," Weiss added as Aero nodded in agreement.

"That's why we'll move in before the train get there. From what I've heard that train is gonna come in and then leave after 10 minutes. That gives them a short time to load up any gear. They'll be focused solely on the gear to load up."

"Catch them when they're focused on something else," Yang said with a slight grin, "Sounds like a plan, little to no resistance, easy mission."

"We may still wanna send at least two to the train," Lila said, looking around the room, "Hell, Yang and I can do that."

"Not a good idea," Sebastian said as circled the warehouse with his finger, "This place can house at least 150 soldiers."

"Damn… okay, wait… that would leave seven to deal with 150 and two to… let's ballpark it… 30 guards on the train… We could still handle it," Aero said.

"I don't want to risk anything, I'd rather have us all together instead of possibly being isolated and picked off," Sebastian said, looking up at the group, "Are we all okay with the plan?" he asked, everyone nodding and leaving to prepare for the strike.

"What's up with Seb?" Lila asked Aero, the two walking upstairs to their rooms.

"Don't know, he seemed off."

"Like something was on the back of his mind," she said, stopping at the top and crossing her arms as Scarlet and Ruby walked by holding hands.

"You have a problem with it."

"I've just never seen him like that Aero."

"Trust me, I know. I know," Aero said, breathing slowly and nodding his head, "To be fair, he's never planned anything this big before. His mind is just probably locked on the idea, which happens to some people."

"Good point… still though."

"I know," Aero said, patting her back and watching her leave as Weiss walked up to him.

"Everything okay?"

"She's just worried because of how Sebastian was acting during the meeting."

"Don't blame her."

"Same. So, you and me together again," Aero said with a smile.

"You got it. Just try to keep up."

"Just try? Hell, I'll be in front of-" Aero began until Weiss turned around and glared at him, "I'll do my best to keep up," earning a smile from Weiss.

* * *

"Everyone in position?" Aero asked over the radio as he and Weiss made their way to their entry point. The stopped at the door and waited until the radio buzzed to life, everyone confirming they were in position. He closed his eyes and clicked his tongue, hoping the echo would give them an advantage but shook his head and looked confused.

"What's wrong?"

"There's… no one in there?" he said to Weiss, who opened the door slowly and peeked inside.

"There's… yeah, you're right," she said, flinging the door open and running in with Aero hot on her heels.

"Guys!" Aero yelled, everyone moving in as he and Weiss looked around, staring at the mass of empty shelves and abandoned vehicles. Everyone moved around, double checking to make sure they were the only ones inside.

"A bomb better not go off," Sun said under his breath as they re-grouped.

"I thought you said they weren't-"

"I know what I said Aero," Sebastian said, rubbing his eyes and sighing, "Let's move to the train station. Can we see if any trains have moved in the past 30 minutes?"

"Yeah, we can check with the Hunter Council, they have those resources," Ruby said, walking away with her Scroll held up to her ear as they followed her to a waiting Bullhead. They boarded and took off in the direction of the station, arriving mere minutes later to gunfire that clanged off the closed doors.

"I think we found them," Lila remarked as they Bullhead hovered and one of the side doors opened. Aero took out five of the little smoke pellets that Sebastian had stolen, activated them and jumped out, throwing them at the shooters, which exploded and covered the team inserting into the fight on the station. Aero quickly clicked his tongue, pointing out guards who were coughing at the smoke or moving their way through it, who were taken down by Lila, Sebastian, Ruby and Blake.

Everyone else pushed forward and a melee ensued, multiple members of the White Fang either meeting their end or being knocked unconscious by the group as they boarded the train. Aero got in front and moved slowly, Lila and Ruby right behind them with their rifles aimed as they moved through a train car. Suddenly the door in front of them was kicked down and two flashbangs were thrown in, going off and seriously stunning Aero and Blake as everyone else closed their eyes, their ears ringing from the high-pitched sound. Weiss and Sun ran to the two as everyone else fought in the cramped car, bumping into each other as they fought off attackers.

"Are you okay?" Weiss asked, Aero's eyes closed in pain. She looked up and saw his bat ears bleeding, causing her to look down at him with concern. Aero could still hear just fine, but his enhanced hearing was damaged.

"I will be," he groaned, getting up and rubbing his bat ears before moving to Blake.

"I'm fine," she said, waving them off as the group moved to a much larger car full of weapons.

"Damn," Scarlet said.

"You got that right," Ruby said as they continued on only to be stopped by more White Fang members and a couple of assassins. The two groups met, with Aero, Yang and Weiss fighting the assassins and everyone else easily taking down the guards. Aero dodged a couple of predictable moves, punched the assassin in the gut and brought his hidden blade up like a uppercut. Instead of impacting their chin, Aero's blade went from the bottom of their jaw through the top of their head, killing them instantly as Yang threw her opponent across the car while Weiss encased hers in ice.

"Wow Aero, little too much don't you think?" Yang asked.

"Not enough," he replied with a smile as they finally reached the engine and stopped the train, which slowed then lurched forward to a grinding halt. Weiss called the Atlas police and everyone stood near the stopped train at the base of one of the mountain ranges, catching their breath and congratulating each other as the forest in front of them stood silent.

"Seriously, it's weird how good you are at just taking a life," Yang said as she described what Aero did to the assassin he fought, a few flinching at the killing blow Yang detailed.

"You get used to it honestly. It becomes a sense of 'I'm not dying today, so they're going down'," he said with a shrug.

"I see what you mean," Scarlet said as Blake and Ruby agreed.

"Yeah, so it's not weird, geez. Thanks for making me the odd man out Yang," he said with a shove to her shoulder, everyone laughing. Just as Yang was about to retaliate, they heard an explosion at the end of the train. They all looked down and saw the last car had somehow exploded, confusing them until the one in front of it exploded. All of a sudden the cars in front of each other began exploding at a rapid rate.

"Oh shit!" Blake said as they moved, trying to avoid the blast but couldn't as the engine exploded, pushing everyone through the hair and onto the ground hard, knocking all of them unconscious.

* * *

Aero groaned, his body throbbing in pain as a small explosion sent bits of hot metal around him, some glancing off his face along with light rain that fell from the clouds as he sat up and looked around. The train was a burning, hulking, mangled twist of metal that barely resembled what was there mere minutes ago. He stood up slowly, his legs wobbly and his lack of balance causing him to fall back down.

"Guys…" he said, barely audible, a low, raspy voice that Aero could not believe was his.

"Guys," he said louder, standing up and looking around, trying to spot anyone and did, stumbling over to Yang's body, her face pale. He crumbled next to her and felt her neck, getting a pulse that was getting weaker. Aero looked at her confused until he looked down her body and saw why: while her left leg was intact, halfway down the thigh of her right leg there was no more leg, only skin and arteries. Aero quickly looked away to not puke, looked again and shook as tears formed in his eyes. He moved down and inspected the wound, noting the massive blood loss she had probably endured. He took out a short blade and cut the lose skin and dangling arteries and then took his shirt off and wrapped it around the stump of her right thigh to try and contain the blood loss. He stood back up, his breathing harsh as he looked around the forest scenery.

"GUYS!" he yelled, hearing movement ahead and running forward on pure adrenaline. He happened upon Lila, who was being used as a crutch by Sebastian.

"What happened?!"

"I'm fine, just my leg is fucked up."

"Where's everyone else?"

"They're not with you?" Lila asked in response with concern. Aero turned to the forest and spotted movement, running towards it and finding Blake and Ruby.

"Oh thank goodness," he said, hugging the two of them, who looked with confusion as tears went down Aero's cheeks.

"Why are you shirtless?" Blake asked, yet as Aero opened his mouth to respond but was cut off because of a horrible scream that rang through the air. They ran back to the destruction and found Weiss, Sun and Scarlet with Yang, Lila and Sebastian, who was tending to her.

"YANG!" Ruby yelled as she scrambled forward, grabbing her shoulders and shaking them violently, "Yang wake up!"

"She'll be fine Ruby," Sebastian said, Lila applying pressure as he tended to her smaller wounds.

"Lila, with me, everybody else hold on to a limb of hers and don't move," Aero said, everyone moving to a position. He and Lila ran to the carnage, the latter curious as to what her friend was looking for.

"Just a hot piece of metal," he said, finally spotting a sheet metal that was majorly in a fire. He grabbed the edges and pulled it out, running back with it and telling Lila to pull his shirt off Yang's wound.

"Okay, just hold her steady," he said. He counted to three then pushed the searing hot metal on the wound to cauterize it. Yang's eye's shot open, their color matching the fire as she wrenched around and let loose a blood-curling scream, everyone holding on as she tried to push them off. After nearly a minute, she calmed and closed her eyes again, allowing Aero to remove the sheet metal and look at the wound as police and paramedics made it to them. Everyone found someone to be with as Yang was loaded into an ambulance, her half-sister tagging along with her boyfriend, leaving everyone else at the scene of the carnage.

* * *

 **"You ever wonder why we're here?"**

 **"Fuck off Randy, it's every damn day with you," the assassin said to the other. The two on guard stood on a catwalk overlooking the large area below. In front of them was a door that seemed to be the front door of a house, yet instead led to a five story underground fort of the Guild, where assassin's trained and rested.**

 **"Just saying man," Randy said with a shrug as the knob on the door jiggled. The two looked in confusion until the door was kicked down, the two being greeted with a headshot each from two pistols.**


	12. Extreme Measures

**Man these papers are killer... thank God I have this fanfic and my screenwriting, always fun. Anyway, I do wanna take a minute and just say thank you guys. It's been a rough two months for me, I know the writing may not be the best quality, but every review, positive or negative, every follow, fav and every views means a lot to me, so thanks again. Only four chapters of this story is left! Which means I need to double down on Uprising when I can! Hope you guys enjoy this and I'll be back next week with Chapter 13! Have a good week! Please review, fav, follow all that sweet jazz!**

* * *

Chapter 12

Aero stood from the rest of the group, a scowl burned onto his lips, a hood pulled over his eyes. He leaned against the dark yellow wall of the waiting room, everyone else sitting in chairs, waiting for the doctors to come back from operating on Yang, preoccupying themselves as best they could. They had stopped back at the mansion for Aero to get a shirt and to tend to small wounds before they made it to the hospital. Scarlet, Weiss, Blake, Ruby, Aero and Lila had avoided any major injuries. Sun and Sebastian had gotten hit with shrapnel but were fine, both needing proper stitches but none no longer or deeper than half an inch. At long last a doctor entered the waiting room and stared at the party.

"She's fine," she began, everyone sighing in relief, Ruby's eyes filling with tears as the doctor continued, "She'll make a full recovery. She'll need to stay for at least a month for physical rehabilitation to get used to a prosthetic. X-Rays show no further damage, so she should have no problem with motor skills, memory, all that."

"Will anything disrupt her Huntress duties?" Aero asked.

"Just this month off. She should be fine to continue. Just give me a minute to make sure everything is okay in her room and you guys will be able to see her," the doctor said, everyone nodding and allowing the doctor to leave yet Aero trailed behind her.

"Doc," he called out, the woman turning around as Aero pulled his hood down, "What kind of prosthetic?"

"Well a regular one."

"Are there any advanced ones? I've heard of a female android that General Ironwood created-"

"Those are highly expensive."

"Like what? 500,000?"

"Try 9 million Lien sir," the doctor said. Aero stood there dumbfounded as she patted his shoulder.

"She'll be fine with a regular one."

"No she won't," he said, turning back and leaving the doctor. He returned to the waiting room, everyone still sitting in the red chairs and barely saying a word. Aero moved over to Sebastian and whispered in his ear.

"Is there any way you can get money from the Guild?"

"Of course, but if it's a large amount then we'll get locked out."

"Get 10 million before you get locked out," Aero replied, Sebastian looking at him with a look of shock.

"Are you crazy?"

"It'll pay for a better leg and give them extra money Sebastian. Do it," Aero said through gritted teeth, surprising Sebastian, who nodded and began typing away on his Scroll, Aero standing next to him with his arms crossed. The doctor re-entered the room a few minutes later.

"She's awake, you may see her. A word of warning though, she is still loopy from the anesthetics," she said before leaving them. Everyone looked at each other and got up except Sebastian, leaving the room, Weiss stopping to lay a hand on Aero's arm. She looked up at him and got a cold gaze back that reflected remorse. Weiss gently squeezed Aero's hand and left with everyone else, Sebastian watching the exchange.

"Aero."

"What?"

"Calm down."

"I am calm."

"That's the biggest load of bullshit I've ever heard," he said, getting up and standing in front of Aero, "You can't blame yourself for this Aero."

"I'm not Sebastian, I just knew this would happen."

"What would?"

"One of them getting hurt!"

"It happens! Hell they could've gotten hurt on any of their Hunts!"

"NO it doesn't happen! It happened because of us! No one else needs to get hurt!" Aero said, screaming in his friends face and walking away, his fists clenched and tears in his eyes. Sebastian walked over and stood next to Aero.

"I know why," he said, waiting for a response and continuing when he didn't get one, "Weiss... You don't want to see her get hurt."

Aero looked at his friend then nodded his head, wiping his eyes with his hands.

"Aero this isn't your fault."

"It is Sebastian… If we hadn't gone to Weiss's mansion… if I had just killed Henrik…"

"Aero, life is weird but it all happens for a reason."

"Yeah, and look what happened, one of them got hurt and is permanently scarred."

"That could've happened at any time Aero," Sebastian said, shaking Aero's shoulder, "Stop it man, you can't do this."

"I can't keep getting them involved," Aero said, looking down and shaking his head.

"Look mate, just stay here for like five minutes and I'll be right back," Sebastian said, leaving the waiting room and down the hallway to Yang's room. He entered and saw everyone standing around Yang, chuckling at her slurred speech.

"Seb! Buddy ol'pal! Look!" she said, showing off her stump with a giggle that made everyone laugh.

"She's in great spirits," Blake said with a smile, standing next to her and looking from Sebastian down to her.

"That's good."

"Did Aero ask about her prosthetic?" Scarlet asked, Sebastian nodding in response, "Ah, doctor just came by asking which one we wanted for her and she brought him up."

"Yeah, we know we can't the cybernetic one, so a-"

"Actually, that's the funny thing. Ms. Rose, you just happened across 10 million lien, congratulations," Sebastian said with a quick grin as he finished taping his Scroll. Everyone looked at Ruby, who pulled out her Scroll, opened an app and looked at it, her eyes going wide in awe.

"10-10 million…"

"Get her the proper leg. It's what Aero wants and what's best for her. Speaking of, Lila and Weiss, come with me," he said. Ruby, Scarlet, Sun and Blake were too busy smiling at the account, Yang wondering what was the square they were looking at, to notice what Sebastian had said.

"What's wrong?" Lila asked.

"He's… he's really distraught."

"Let me talk to him," Weiss said.

"I was really hoping you would volunteer," Sebastian said as they walked out of the room and back to the waiting room.

"He just needs a big hug," Lila said with a chuckle as they opened the door to the waiting room and looked at the empty space.

"What…"

"Oh you gotta be fucking kidding me!" Sebastian said, running back as Lila and Weiss looked around the room.

"Ma'am!" Sebastian yelled at a desk attendant, "Question! Did a guy with a scowl, dark hood and jeans leave?"

"I think so, I was doing a write-up on a patient so I wouldn't be able to tell you for sure. I'm sorry," she said, Sebastian sighing and rubbing his forehead. He walked back to the two in the waiting room and shook his head.

"He left."

"Well maybe we can catch him, he can't be too far," Lila said, turning but being stopped by Sebastian.

"No point, he's probably hijacked a vehicle and is long gone."

"Well what else? We can't let him die Sebastian!"

"He won't."

"What is he going to do?" Weiss asked.

"I think he's gonna just attack the Guild. Think about it: it would direct all their attention to him, leaving us be. He's the one that's been killing all of their men, you guys haven't, so he's the priority now. The Guild will want to take him out so they can refocus on you guys," he said, Weiss's eyes going wide, snapping back to normal as her Scroll buzzed.

"Hello?"

"Act like it's your sister and walk away," she heard a familiar voice say.

"Hey Winter," Weiss said, waving the two assassins off and leaving the large area, walking to a quiet hallway.

"Alone?"

"What the hell are you doing Aero? Where are you?"

"That's not important Weiss."

"It is to me and everyone here Aero."

"Look-"

"You can't take them on your own Aero. Let us help!"

"Look what happened when I let you guys help!" Aero exclaimed in the phone booth he stood in 2 blocks from the hospital.

"It happens Aero. That's the career we chose!"

"Yeah, this was supposed to happen because of a Grimm, not because of my enemies!"

"Aero-"

"I don't want you to get hurt!" he said, his face burning at what he said. He breathed slowly, Weiss too stunned to say anything as he collected himself.

"I don't want them to get any of you, especially you… I… You know, maybe in another life, things would be different. Maybe we could've been more than an assassin and a huntress, a bodyguard and a heiress… I'm sorry Weiss, but I have to do this. Something is telling me to direct them to me, to attack them on my own. Just look over Yang, she'll need everyone there. I… I'll be okay."

"Will you at least be in contact with us?" Weiss asked very quietly, tears going down her cheeks.

"I'll do my best. Goodbye Weiss."

"It's not goodbye Aero…"

"… I'll see you soon," he said, hanging up and walking out of the phone booth. Aero walked another block, grabbed keys left on a café table and walked to a motorcycle, turning it over and driving off.

* * *

"You ever wonder why we're here?"

"Fuck off Randy, it's every damn day with you," the assassin said to the other. The two on guard stood on a catwalk overlooking the large area below. In front of them was a door that seemed to be the front door of a house, yet instead led to a five story underground fort of the Guild, where assassin's trained and rested. It was one of the few remaining, with others just using hotels in the other kingdoms, however this one in Vacuo was one of the first forts built and the Guild didn't want to get rid of it.

"Just saying man," Randy said with a shrug as the knob on the door jiggled. The two looked in confusion until the door was kicked down, the two being greeted with a headshot each from two pistols. Aero stepped forward, a month removed from the attack on the train, his golden eyes cold and steely as they looked around then down. Since the attack, he had destroyed three hotels and was now assaulting this fort, trying to take down as much of the Guild as possible. He had retrieved all of his weapons from the manor the day he decided to attack the Guild on his own and was constantly on the move, getting ammunition from dead guards and eating whatever they had.

Aero now sported a new look as well: no longer was his hair reaching his shoulders, instead being cut short. He now sported a dark blue hoodie that was unzipped but had the hood pulled over his eyes, all of it being completed with his black jeans, matching boots and fingerless leather gloves that Sebastian had given him years ago. He made his way down, cutting down members of the Guild that attacked him while sparing those that didn't wish to fight. He made his way to the second floor and was immediately met with gunfire. He breathed in, hugging a wall and throwing out two smoke pellets, which exploded on impact. He could hear his attackers coughing hard, allowing him to click his tongue, bring out his assault rifle and easily put three bullets in both attackers. Five more ran forward, one being met with a well-placed shot as another watched a throwing knife impact her chest, stopping her in her tracks.

The remaining three met the master assassin with blades drawn, each of their blows deflected by Aero's sword. He stepped back and waited, exploding forward and driving his blade into an assassin's heart, stunning him. Aero whipped around the dead attacker, took out his short blades and parried two blows. He moved in and slit one's throat, turning in time to deflect a blow, side step a sloppy attack and drive his blade through the back of the last attacker's head, the tip of the blade exiting their mouth. Aero quickly gathered supplies and made his way down, everyone surrendering on his way to the last floor, allowing him to make it to the fifth with ease, where he was stopped.

"Ah, Aero Kalo, I've heard a lot about you from Eli and Danielle. Did a number on those guys up top, curious to see how you'll do with the eighth best assassin in the Guild," the man said, holding two large, curved blades. He sported a cocky grin and wore a black beanie that hid dark, wavy brunette hair that matched his skin tone. He wore a light brown t-shirt, jeans that hugged his legs and combat boots.

"Who are you?" Aero asked, genuinely curious, which insulted his opponent.

"You asshole, you don't know me?"

"No asshole, I don't," Aero said, taking his sword out and engaging the blade.

"I am Vladmir, the-" was all the young assassin could say before being cut off as Aero swung at him, catching Vladmir off guard, who barely blocked the strike.

"Rude!" he yelled before being kicked in his shin and his chin being rocked by Aero's knee, flattening him on his back. The young assassin rolled away from a sword strike, shot up and launched a flurry of his own, some hits cutting Aero's arms. Vladmir knocked him back and launched himself at the downed master assassin. Aero grinned as he watched Vladmir jump at him, bringing his sword up in time to stab him in the stomach. Vladmir's eyes went wide as he looked down and watched Aero stand up then slowly remove the blade, only for him to then leave a deep gash across Vladmir's chest. The cocky assassin fell to his knees, looking down at the deep gash and blood leaving his body as Aero held a pistol to his head.

"Don't say it," Aero said, pulling the trigger as Vladmir was about to say something to him. Aero turned and left, walking into a group of members who had watched the short fight. Aero looked at them, picked one from the group and gripped their shoulder.

"Tell them what you saw and tell them who did it. Got it?"

"Y-yeah."

"Get out of here," Aero said, allowing all the survivors to leave first before he activated a self-destruct sequence, which caused the underground sections to cave in. Aero left the house and got into the sports car he had stolen five days earlier. He looked up another address and punched it in, trying to finish the Guild in Vacuo. As he was about to drive off, his Scroll buzzed and Aero already knew who it was. Over the past month he had gotten calls from everyone on a daily basis, yet in the past week only Weiss had been calling him and had done so once a day. Her messages were either sweet and caring or icy and bitchy, but he didn't mind any of her messages, just enjoying the sound of her voice. He stared at his Scroll, tempted to pick it up, yet he shook his head, put the car in gear and drove off. He let it go to voicemail as he usually did, wondering what message the heiress had left him this time.

* * *

"Hey Aero, it's Weiss… Yang's doing a lot better, she's already talking about how many asses she's gonna kick with it; her words, not mine… Lila and Sebastian are good, everyone's doing good… We all just want you to be safe and come back… _I_ want you to come back… I want to talk some things over with you… about us... please be safe," Weiss said into her Scroll after getting a default tone when he didn't pick up. She lowered the Scroll and looked up at the shattered moon as she stood on her balcony, sighing to herself. Halfway across the world a few hours later, Aero listened to her message while looking up at the same moon then down at the Scroll when the message ended, his fingers curled into a fist, a lone tear landing on one of his curled fingers.

He was seated on the concrete balcony of a motel in Vacup he was staying at and looked at his phone, fighting the urge to call her and go back to her and his friends. He wanted to run back to her and tell her how he really felt about her, about how he wanted to be with her, but knew he had to keep going.

* * *

 **Aero walked in the park in Mistral at night, enjoying the peace and quiet, the dim streetlights illuminating parts of the walkways as he stopped on a bridge and looked down at the water of a still pond. His Scroll buzzed and he looked down, knowing the image that would be there and squeezed the Scroll. Right as he was about to finally answer it after three months, a rough hand stopped him. Aero saw the pale skin and looked up, recognizing the green eyes, the military cut black hair, the white leather trench coat that was outlined in blue. Aero's eyes narrowed and his heart stopped.**

 **"Eli."**

 **"Hello Aero. Am I interrupting something?"**


	13. The Long Grind

**Firstly, let me apologize for Chapter 12 being posted late: I had off from university and it completely slipped my mind and I immediately went (at 3:00 PM here) 'OH FUCK THE CHAPTER!' So again, I apologize, that was 100% my fault and it won't happen again. Other than that, 2 quick notes: when this wraps up I'm gonna take two weeks to finish whatever I have to do with Uprising and then I'll post it. At the same time I will hopefully be working on a collab with A Shadow in Chains, a fellow Fanfiction author who is really damn good at writing, so check out his stories and hopefully we'll be deep into the collab. Fun fact, so, I really fucked up Scarlet's weapons (whoops) so, I'm not gonna change that however, I'll just keep it as is for the rest of the fanfic. Anyway, hope you guys have an amazing week (Volume 3 is only 6 days away! HOLY SHIT I CANT WAIT!) and I'll see you next Monday! Please review, fav and everything else in between!**

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Chapter 13

"There she is," Aero said under his breath, looking through a sniper scope he was holding to his eye at a target 80 feet below and about 300 feet away. He was laying on his stomach on the roof of an office building in the business district of Vale, the sun beaming down on him and the roof. A light breeze wafted by him as he set up his sniper rifle on a tripod, attached the scope to the top of it and looked down. To his right was a special targeting system that was helping him set up the shot. Aero adjusted his aim, sliding the sniper rifle up ever so slightly so that it was now on his target's chest.

His target was one of the top 10 assassin's in the Guild. Aero knew this because of a Scroll he stole off a dead assassin from another fort he went through a month ago, which gave him access to the list of top assassins. Three months had passed since the train incident and it showed on Aero, who sported the same clothes from his raid on the underground fort but underneath was marked. Multiple scars and bandages showed the pain he had gone through, his eyes having bags underneath them, his facial hair growing into a very short but rough beard while his hair had re-grown to shoulder length. Aero had barely slept in five days, constantly moving to try and stay ahead of the guild as it sent members to areas he had been at moments before. He adjusted the scope, breathed in then out slowly and evenly, waiting until the woman in her late 20's looked up and spotted him. As she realized who he was, he pulled the trigger and watched the bullet impact her heart perfectly, causing her to crumble onto the ground as people screamed, ran away and towards her, calling the authorities.

Aero quickly disconnected the tripod, grabbed his rifle and slung it over his shoulder, moving to the door. He stopped and listened, picking up faint footsteps that were more than likely guards. He moved to the side and looked at his plan B, which made him shake his head in worry. Minutes earlier, he had set up a grapple hook with a short line to another office that was forty feet away and a story shorter than the building he was on. One end was tied to a radiator on his building and the hook was latched onto the lip of a wall covering four industrial air conditioners on the other building. His breathing shortened as the footsteps became louder, forcing Aero to whip out his baton and use it to zip-line over to the adjacent building. Aero tucked his body as the door to the roof he was on flung open and two guards ran onto the roof, looking around frantically. They spotted him as his feet impacted the wall on the other building, cushioning the blow as he stood on the roof and disconnected the grapple hook.

"Freeze!" he heard behind him, making him whip around with his baton and smack the guards wrist. The guard yelped in pain and couldn't react properly as Aero smacked his stomach and kneed his temple, knocking the guard out as another charged at Aero. The assassin side-stepped the guard and choked him out with the baton as the guards on the adjacent building watched helplessly, allowing Aero to make his way down the stairwell. He waited for more guards, ducking onto a floor and crouching next to a desk when he heard some gathering in the lobby and about to start moving upstairs.

"Who are you?" someone asked Aero, his body tensing as he turned around slowly, realizing he couldn't lie about who he was thanks to the sniper rifle on his back.

"No one important," he said with a shrug, "What floor am I on?"

"Why the hell should I tell you?" the man asked, regretting his decision when Aero stood up, grabbed his collar and slammed him onto the desk.

"Just tell me."

"T-Third floor!"

"See? Not so hard," Aero said, letting the man go and walking to a window, watching multiple police cars swarm to the building.

"Are you parked on the street?"

"Y-yeah."

"Fast car?"

"Oh no! There is-" yet the man's argument ended when he saw Aero engage his black hidden blades, "Yeah, okay, here," he said, taking out car keys and handing them to Aero. He took the keys, thanked the man and spotted the man's car when he unlocked it via the fob. He nodded to himself, noting his position near the car and waited. Tense minutes ticked by until Aero heard the police coming and grinned. The master assassin ran to one end of the large office space, turned, pulled his pistols out and ran forward, shooting the glass in front of him and crossing his arms in front of his face as he leapt at it. He burst through the window and landed hard on the ground with a roll, groaning at the impact his legs took and stumbled to the car. It was a typical four-door sedan, which would be enough for now as he clamored in, slammed the accelerator down and escaped via various back alleys, stealing different vehicles until he lost the police.

* * *

"Oh man…" Sebastian said, looking at the TV and leaning back as he listened to the reporter. He sat on the couch, mug of coffee in his hand as he rubbed his beard and closed his eyes. The three months had, in a sense, saw a return of normalcy for everyone to an extent. Sebastian and Lila now accompanied their friends as their bodyguards whenever they went out for anything besides Hunts. Team RWBY had returned to Hunting, taking on multiple hunts with a 100% success rate. While Yang had struggled at first with her new leg, in two weeks-time she was back to her old self, moving around as if she had never been injured.

Everyone was worried about Aero in their own ways. Lila and Sebastian, the latter tracking him via news reports and outside contacts, had the confidence that he would be fine, as did Blake, Sun and Scarlet. Ruby and Yang were worried and hoped he would be fine, worrying that the Guild would find a way to track him down. Weiss had taken his absence the hardest though she tried not to show it. She still laughed, smiled and got annoyed with everyone but they could all see the pain in her eyes and in her voice whenever he was brought up. She was constantly asking Sebastian for any updates on Aero and he had heard her call Aero's phone every night for what had seemed like two straight months.

"The hell are you doing man," Sebastian said, sipping his coffee and rubbing his eyes.

"What's wrong Sebastian?" he heard to his right, making him turn and spot the heiress in her night gown.

"Uh…"

"Tell me."

"Apparently he shot someone in broad daylight then zip lined over to another building, knocked out a couple of guards, took someone's car keys then drove off, ditching three different vehicles until the police couldn't track him. Current whereabouts are unknown," he said as Weiss sat next to him, her hands in her face, "I hate to ask this, but has he gotten in contact with you?"

"No, you?"

"Hell no," he responded, hoping to get a chuckle from her but got nothing. She looked at the TV, which was showing the footage of Aero's escape.

"Why."

"He has his reasons Weiss. I'm sure he'll come to and come right back to us with a lot of apologies soon," Sebastian said, patting her hand and leaving her to watch the news. She simply stared at the images of the rough man she knew months before who now looked foreign to her.

* * *

A few days after the assassination Aero walked in a park in Mistral at night after stowing away on a airship, enjoying the peace and quiet, dim light poles illuminating parts of various walkways as he stopped on a bridge and looked down at the water. His Scroll buzzed and he looked down, knowing the image that would be there and squeezed the Scroll. Right as he was about to finally answer it after three months, a rough hand stopped him. Aero saw the pale skin and looked up, recognizing the green eyes, the military cut black hair, the white leather trench coat that was outlined in blue. Aero's eyes narrowed and his heart stopped.

"Eli."

"Hello Aero. Am I interrupting something?"

"You were just about to."

"Seems like it. Have a minute?"

"Depends. Are you going to try and kill me?"

"No, not really."

"The hell kinda answer is that?"

"Mine," Eli said, moving his hand as he looked down at the water, "What brings you here?"

"Running, what else?"

"Figured."

"Then why-"

"You know me Aero, I like to mess with people... I've been following this five month odyssey of yours. Quite impressive what you've done. You wouldn't believe how many of us have avoided Varis."

"I can imagine," Aero said, leaning on the bridge as Eli looked at him.

"You're curious."

"As to why you haven't tried to kill me."

"And go the way of Magnis, Saunin and so many fellows? You are great at what you do Aero, which is why you were number one before you left."

"I know."

"Let me guess: you're reconsidering killing me."

"I've spared-"

"I know you've spared countless lives. You just want to end the Guild."

"I want to end the Guild because of the hypocrisy of Varis and how power hungry he is. He talks about us leading the world to peace yet how many people have we killed to insert our own politicians, community leaders, those that have influence? How many laws have we gotten passed because of that? Hm?"

"Trust me, I'm not disagreeing with you, hell, I've seen this for a long time," Eli replied in his husky voice, "Aero, I came to you to tell you a few things. First off, trust me, a lot of us knew of Varis and his want of power. Why do you think Nico was killed?"

"I thought it was because he couldn't swing me back to you guys."

"Exactly, he couldn't disillusion you like how he did when he first recruited you. Believe me when I say a lot of us have wanted to leave, but none of us really had the balls to do anything, which is why when you did it left a couple of us in shock."

"Then why have I met nothing but opposition?"

"You've met opposition from the older members and the new ones, not from those like you and me: we can see through the bullshit, we can see through the lies. We see what the Guild really means and we haven't fully committed our lives to it, we're not fresh-faced anymore."

"Good point."

"Also, because I know you're curious as to how I just happened to find you, great job sneaking onto my airship you idiot," he said, the two sharing a chuckle, "Oh, and another reason why I haven't attacked you is simple: I've officially retired from the Guild."

"Good for you," Aero said, his Scroll buzzing again, telling him of the waiting voicemail from Weiss.

"That's your new family and you need to protect them, right? Especially her?" Eli asked, spotting the picture of Weiss, Aero looking at him without a response, "Figured. Good man. Well, you need to know this much: everyone is cooped up at HQ and are waiting for you to strike. Here," he said, fishing a USB from his pants pocket and handing it to the assassin, "That details the White Fang HQ. I suggest sending some of your Hunter buddies to take them out."

Aero looked at the USB in astonishment. Never did he think that Eli or any other assassin would help him, yet here he was with all this information.

"Why?"

"Because the Guild has gotten corrupt and it either needs new leadership or to be destroyed, we can't control the world anymore. I won't fight you nor will I help you fight the Guild directly, but I don't mind fighting the Guild indirectly," Eli said, turning to walk away then stopping, "Oh, I've taken all of my money from my bank account and I'm opening a bar in Vale called The Hideout. You should come by sometime, I wouldn't mind having a regular," he said with a grin that Aero matched.

"First drink better be free."

"Oh of course," and with that Eli left Aero alone on the bridge, who was about to make an important call.

* * *

Weiss set her Scroll on her nightstand, once again leaving a voicemail after Aero once again didn't answer.

"I really should stop," she said aloud, pulling the covers around herself and starting to drift asleep until her Scroll jumped to life as a ringtone blared. She swiftly sat up and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Hi Weiss," she heard, her eyes going wide at the voice.

"Aero?"

"Yeah," he replied, leaning on a railing, his heart thumping in his chest.

"Where are you?"

"You know I can't-"

"Please just tell me," she said quietly.

"Mistral," he replied, "I take it everyone's been following my exploits?"

"Yeah, Yang said nice job on the office building," she said, Aero chuckling at the comment.

"Tell her I said thanks… How is she?"

"Fantastic, she loves her new leg."

"That's good," Aero said, letting his words settle in the air as he relaxed his shoulder. Weiss waited for him to say something, hoping he would because she was drawing blanks in her mind.

"Weiss, what did you mean when you said you wanted to talk some things over about us?" he asked.

"Just some things Aero."

"It's about what I said those months ago isn't it?" he asked, waiting for a reply.

"Yeah."

"Do you feel the same way-"

"I can't answer that Aero," she replied, tears coming to her eyes. Aero stood on the bridge, his face showing regret and sorrow as he sighed.

"I… I understand. Weiss, I'm sorry. I know I've apologized to you a lot over these months but I really am sorry. I… Man I wish I could show you how sorry I was."

"Come back to the manor so we can have our talk."

"You know I can't."

"Why not?! Yang's leg is fine! We can help! Aero, don't do this to me!"

"I'm not meaning to-"

"Then why are you?!" she yelled, immediately covering her mouth from how loud she got, knowing she just woke up some of her friends. Her yelling left Aero stunned on the bridge, his mouth moving but no words coming out until he could pick his words carefully.

"Because… I want to make sure we can have a future together," he said softly, Weiss gasping at his remark. They stayed on the phone for a minute longer, neither saying a word, the shock of everything still going through each other's minds.

"I need to catch a ride, I'll see you soon Weiss," he said before hanging up, leaving the Huntress in her bed, a tear going down her cheek that she painfully wiped away.

* * *

"You okay Weiss?" Ruby asked her partner, who sat next to her at the dining room table, letting Weiss use her shoulder as a cushion. It was three am and Weiss was right: she hadn't just woken up a few teammates, she had woken up everyone. After the phone call she had made her way downstairs and sat at the table, soon being joined by Ruby and Yang, who questioned her for ten minutes. An hour later everyone was downstairs, taking in everything she had relayed about Aero to them.

"Shit this is getting out of hand," Scarlet said to Sun, who nodded.

"Couldn't agree more."

"Can we track him Sebastian? He still uses his old Scroll." Yang said

"He took the GPS out a long time ago, which is why the Guild hasn't been able to stop him," Sebastian said, handing her, Weiss and Lila cups of coffee, putting more on for everyone else.

"So we just continue to wait? I'm gonna fucking strangle him for this nonsense," Lila said, sipping her coffee. Everyone heard a buzzing sound and looked at Sebastian, who pulled out his Scroll and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Is that-" Blake began before Sebastian held his finger up.

"Hey Eli."

"Eli?!" Lila said.

"Who in the hell is that?" Yang asked Ruby, who shrugged her shoulders.

"Uh huh… really… good to hear… he is?... oh shit, please tell me… you're sure?… okay, yeah, we'll jump on it… Catch you later," Sebastian said, running upstairs before anyone could ask a question and returning moments later with his laptop, which he opened to a chat service, reading the waiting messages and running a hand through his hair.

"We all have to go right now!" he said, running back to the foyer.

"Wait Sebastian why?!" Blake asked.

"Aero's assaulting the HQ on his own! Eli told me and my sources just confirmed it, he's there right now, we gotta go!"

* * *

 **"Whoa," Blake said as the two vehicles entered a warehouse and spotted a guard with a cleaved collarbone.**

 **"Yup, that's Aero," Lila said, taking her rifle out and loading it, an approach everyone with ranged weapons took as the two vehicles drove to the center. The ground suddenly shifted, lowering and turning them around to face a dark tunnel, which they proceeded to go down until stopping in front of a parking lot and large open doors. Everyone clamored out of the vehicles quickly, noting the other dead bodies as they made their way inside the headquarters, being stopped by a group of Guild members.**

 **"W-who are you?" a handler asked.**

 **"We're looking for Aero," Sebastian replied.**

 **"Check the first floor, everyone was ordered to wait there for him."**

 **"Oh no," Yang said, the group running where Lila directed them, jumping to the first floor and bursting through the side doors of the training arena.**

 **"AERO!" Weiss yelled at the assassin.**


	14. Reunion

**DUDE... That was a cool first episode, really dug it. Season looks like its gonna be a lot of fun, can't wait to see JNPR's fight! Quick bit of info: so, after today, only 3 chapters are left (I know I said it was only 16 but I fucked that up, my bad). Now, this puts Renegade ending on November 16 and I just finished Chapter 7 of Uprising (thinking that'll be around 9-13 chapters). There is a problem however: I have a short story and script due end of November/beginning of December (joy). So, the plan is to hold back on posting Uprising until... let's shoot for December 14. What I'll do then, since I'll be out of school, IS (hopefully) POST 1 CHAPTER EVERYDAY! That is what I'm shooting for, I'll see what happens when that times rolls around. Anyway, love you guys and hope you have a great week! Please review and fav, the usual!**

* * *

Chapter 14

The black motorcycle zoomed down the tunnel, the engine noises echoing off the walls. It started to slow down, the biker revving the engine multiple times as it came to a stop in front of two guards protecting the entrance to the Guild's headquarters inside a mountain in Atlas.

"Who are you? All assassins should be inside!" a guard said, aiming his assault rifle at the rider, who wore jeans and a leather jacket along with boots. It was when the guard aimed his rifle that he took in the rest of the rider, noting the multitude of weapons that they had on them.

"Oh shit! Fire!" he said but before he could pull the trigger the figure grabbed two throwing knives and threw them at the guards, one hitting a heart and the other square in the chest. Aero Kalo removed the helmet and shook his head, his hair swaying with the movements as he ran to them and grabbed his knives. He took the leather jacket off, revealing his usual ensemble and stood outside the door to the Guild. He pulled his pistols out and went inside, expecting the worse.

* * *

"How the hell did Eli get your number?" Lila asked Sebastian, sitting next to him in the backseat of the white SUV. The two of them along with Blake, Weiss, Scarlet and Sun, who was driving, were being directed by Sebastian to the Guild's HQ. In the lane next to them were the half-sisters, who were traveling with them via Bumblebee.

"Hell if I know."

"Who is he?" Scarlet asked.

"Member of the Guild. Hopefully he didn't lead Aero into a trap."

"Don't say that," Weiss said, her voice cold and focused.

"Do you have any idea where in the Guild he could be?" Blake asked.

"No clue whatsoever."

* * *

"He's here on the second fl- AH!" a guard yelled as Aero's blade jutted through his stomach. Aero kicked him off the blade and down to the first floor, turning in time to parry a strike and stab another through the chest. He bobbed a punch and threw an attacker down to the first floor, grabbed another by their leg, broke it then stabbed them with a hidden blade. He pulled out his sniper rifle, turned and aimed down the scope at three attackers running at him. He downed each easily, turned and used the butt of the gun like a baseball bat to uppercut an assassin. Aero made his way to the third floor and found a group of members hiding in a corner, flinching and turning away in pure terror as he approached.

"P-please! We don't-"

"Go to the exit and just wait. I won't hurt anyone who wishes me no harm," Aero said. He turned in time to send a bullet through an assassins head, scaring the group who watched the scene unfold.

"Just get away from here," Aero said, running past them and to the fifth floor, bursting into the Boardroom.

"VARIS! Where are you?!" he yelled, being met by fifteen members who had been waiting. He took out his two short blades and moved in, digging one into an assassin's chest, turning around, stabbing another in an arm before snapping their neck. He quickly recouped his blades and turned him in time to be smacked back and stabbed in the forearm. Aero screamed in pain, kicked the stabber back and drove a blade squarely into their forehead. He turned with his one blade, driving it into another's collarbone then taking his sword out. From there, Aero was able to down the last of his attackers easily, parrying strikes, leaving deep gashes in chests, necks and backs. He gathered his short blades and left the Boardroom, checking the fourth and third floor and encountering little resistance, allowing him to bandage his fresh wound.

"Of course," he said to himself, trying to calm himself down as he realized that the guards and assassins were gathered in one area: the large training arena on the first floor. He and Sebastian estimated the Guild had about 400 people before he left and was now down to less than 150 because of him, dwindling resources and people leaving the Guild. It was Aero against nearly 150 members of the Assassin's Guild, his former family, and he was ready. He made his way downstairs to the first floor, waited by the doors to the training room and breathed in slowly.

He took out his assault rifle and kicked the door in, confirming his worse suspicions. Gathered in the center of the area were a majority of the members willing to fight him and beyond them he saw a large glass screen. In there was where the weapons were kept, but when he peered he saw the one man he was looking for.

"Hello Aero," he heard Varis say over the PA system, "You know, you've been a real pain these past five months."

"Yeah I know."

"So I think it's time I just killed you, how does that sound?"

"Oh, you're gonna do it yourself?"

"Oh of course not," Varis said with a sadistic grin, "Whoever kills you gets the title 'Revenant Killer', a nice bonus and all your weapons. And you will receive the cold embrace of death and accept it. How does that sound?"

"You left out the part where I fight these guys off, track you down and finish the Guild off once and for all."

"That's because that part is a fantasy Aero Kalo," Varis said, his smug grin staying on his face as he talked to a few elder members next to him. Aero aimed his assault rifle and was met with the sound of every other person in the room drawing some form of weapon. Aero sighed to himself, knowing that this was more than likely the end of his journey. He couldn't help but smirk to himself, which irritated Varis.

"The hell are you so cocky about? You're going to die!"

"Which is true fuckface," Aero began, cocking his assault rifle to make sure a round was already loaded, "But when I do, you're gonna have a whole lot of problems, mainly Hunter and Huntress's coming for you, not to mention another top assassin and my former handler."

"They shall be taken care of in time Aero."

"I don't think so, see, they've gotten really used to fighting me. Face it Varis: You're fucked. Your days are numbered!"

"Whatever you say Aero. Kill him," Varis said nonchalantly. Aero aimed and fired, downing a few melee fighters and moving to cover as others opened fire. Aero observed Varis, a few elder and younger members running to a hidden entrance and getting away, annoying Aero as he got up and fired a few shots. He knew this was going to be a long fight.

* * *

"Whoa," Blake said as the two vehicles entered a warehouse and spotted a guard with a cleaved collarbone.

"Yup, that's Aero," Lila said, taking her rifle out and loading it, an approach everyone with ranged weapons took as the two vehicles drove to the center. The ground suddenly shifted, lowering and turning them around to face a dark tunnel, which they proceeded to go down until stopping in front of a parking lot and large open doors. Everyone clamored out of the vehicles quickly, noting the other dead bodies as they made their way inside the headquarters, being stopped by a group of Guild members.

"W-who are you?" a handler asked.

"We're looking for Aero," Sebastian replied.

"Check the first floor, everyone was ordered to wait there for him."

"Oh no," Yang said, the group running where Lila directed them, jumping down to the first floor and bursting through the doors of the training arena.

"AERO!" Weiss yelled at the assassin, who looked at her along with everyone else in the doorway. It seemed as if for a minute time had slowed down: Aero's eyes lit up, a smile coming to the corner of his lips. To Weiss, he seemed nearly alien to her, with the shaggy hair, rough beard and different clothing that all showed months of usage. This momentary lapse caused an attacker to land a harsh blow on Aero, knocking his sword out of his hand and knocking the assassin back. Weiss clenched her teeth, gathered her Semblance and created a glyph underneath herself, creating an ice wall that nearly reached the ceiling and connected the two ends of the room horizontally, separating Aero from his attackers. The group ran to their friend, who was struggling on his hands and knees.

"Oh shit Aero!" Sebastian said, rolling him over and noticing his most recent wounds: a stab wound in his shoulder and a large gash on his thigh along with his forearm wound. Aero looked up at his friends, who were wearing their old Hunter uniforms and were looking down with genuine concern.

"Hey guys."

"Really?! That's it?!" Lila said, shaking her head as Aero pushed Sebastian aside and breathed deeply.

"I'm okay," he said, running a hand through his hair and directing them to gather his weapons, which they did as he sat up.

"Bullshit, how the hell are you moving?"

"That's a good question," Aero replied, trying to get up but was stopped when a hand was held in front of him. He followed the hand up the arm and knew immediately who it was, taking said hand in his and allowing it to help him up.

"Thanks Weiss," he said with a gentle smile.

"You're so lucky," she said with irritation as he was handed his weapons.

"Why?"

"That I don't kill you right now for all this bullshit!" she yelled, everyone looking at her, the sounds of the assassin's chipping away at the thick ice wall being the only audible sound.

"You're right, you should," Aero said, closing his eyes, "I was an idiot, a moron and a fucking idiot for everything. I just saw what happened to you," he said, motioning to Yang, "And I didn't want that to happen to anyone else. I thought it would be best if they just focused on me, allowing you guys a chance to recuperate. I'm sorry."

Aero looked at his friends with tired eyes, expecting yelling and shaking heads. Instead, Lila stepped forward and embraced him in a hug, followed quickly by Yang. Aero's eyes immediately began to water as everyone quickly joined the large hug, Aero finally crumbling as he tried to hug of all them back. All of them had at least watery eyes, some had tears on their cheeks, including Weiss, who looked the assassin over. Everyone gave the two room, allowing them to hug each other tightly.

"I'm so sorry Weiss," he said into her ear, crying into her shoulder as she hugged him back, "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay Aero," she said, rubbing his back as he looked down at her. The two shared a smile that was interrupted by Sebastian.

"Hey man, great to have you back and all, but we have people to take care of."

"I know," Aero said, wiping his eyes, his body still weak but running on willpower at this point, "Yang, Sun, Weiss, Sebastian, Scarlet: on my mark, break the ice. Ruby, Blake, Lila with me," Aero said. Everyone moved into position as Aero crouched twenty feet back from the ice, Lila next to him in the same position as Ruby and Blake flanked either of them, their weapons aimed at the wall of ice. The assassin closed his eyes and readied himself.

"NOW!" he yelled. At his command, the five shattered the large wall of ice, sending ice into the crowd of assassins. Aero immediately opened fire, downing a few as Lila, Blake and Ruby began shooting, taking down multitudes of targets. One made a move on Yang but was met with her new leg to his chest, launching him back into three other guards. After running out of ammo on his clip, Aero charged with his sword into the melee, taking down multiple attackers with Yang.

"Glad to see the new leg works."

"Oh yeah, it's fantastic!" Yang yelled, dispatching multiple attackers. Soon everyone had joined in the melee, moving around one another and easily taking care of multiple assassins. Aero made his way to Weiss, helping her take down a few more assassins, finding a few seconds of spare time.

"I take it you're still really pissed at me."

"Trust me: I'm really happy to see you, but yeah, I'm super pissed," she said, turning in time to catch a guard, his brains being blown away by Aero.

"Figured as much," he said, moving around and helping when he could. The attacker's numbers swiftly dwindled until the last few realized what was happening and surrendered.

"What should we do with them?"

"I say just arrest them," Aero said, clutching his side.

"I'll make a call to the authorities," Yang said, pulling out her Scroll.

"And you need the hospital," Blake said.

"Yeah, no argument from me this time."

"What a shock," Scarlet quipped.

"Alright, Lila, me and Yang take point. 30 feet back, Aero and Weiss. 30 feet back, Scarlet, Ruby, Blake and Sun cover our six, got it?" Sebastian asked, everyone nodding. They moved away as such, the group of prisoners ahead of Lila, Sebastian and Yang.

"So," Aero said to Weiss, the two walking gingerly as he used her as a crutch, "Wanna talk?"

"Really? Now?"

"Yeah, okay, good point."

* * *

Aero sat on the side of his hospital bed, fully clothed and flexing his hands. He had bandages over his wounds, which were properly stitched and had recently shaved and cut his own hair, getting it the way he had always liked it: short and thinned out with no hair over his ears while his bat ears remained prominent. He looked at his right arm in the cast, which housed the stab he had gotten, which in turn had fractured his right forearm. He smiled to himself, just happy to be alive, but one more person was on his list: Varis. He came back from his thoughts when he heard a knock.

"It's open," he said, the door opening to the heiress, who stepped in. Aero immediately felt butterflies in his stomach, not knowing how this long needed conversation was going to go.

"Hey."

"Hey. How's the arm?"

"Fucked up but it should only be in the cast for two weeks."

"That's good," Weiss said, Aero nodding in response. He dug into his pants pocket with his good arm until he found what he was looking for, handing it to Weiss, who looked it over.

"A USB drive?"

"Give that to some Hunter friends, the entirety of the White Fang HQ is on it. The Hunter Council can finally end that threat," he said. Weiss looked at it with surprise.

"How?"

"Eli."

"Oh. I'll hand it off to teams JNPR, CFVY and ABRN, they should be able to handle that," she said, pocketing the USB as silence hung in the air. The two stayed silent until Aero looked at Weiss, his golden eyes looking into her pools of ice blue.

"Weiss, I want you to just listen, okay?" he started, getting her attention, "I know I royally fucked up with all this. I know I did and I know I've apologized countless times but I want you to understand that I am truly sorry for leaving and I regret it. Every second I was away hurt so bad but in my mind I was doing the right thing, I was doing it to get their attention off you guys. I just saw what happened to Yang and I didn't want to see that happen to you: hell, I think I would've been a lot worse if it was you. But I meant every word I said to you over the phone the day I left and when I called yesterday."

She looked at him and felt horrible for feeling mad but at the same time knew she had to be upfront with him.

"Aero… I… Look, I understand. Hell, Blake ran from us when we first discovered she was a faunus and attacked Roman Torchwick, so I know all about people leaving me all of a sudden. I'll be honest, I didn't know how to feel about you at first Aero, but my feelings have grown for you. But, how can we be together if you do these kinds of things?"

"I did it out of rage Weiss."

"And what would you do if I got hurt on a Hunt? Go after every Grimm?"

"Well no-"

"Do you know what it's like to be left like that?! To be left alone, to call every night and hope and pray that somehow you return my fucking call?! To hope that you'll come back?!" she yelled, quickly recoiling as Aero looked at her then looking down at the floor, shaking his head.

"No, I don't and I know I put you under unwanted and unneeded stress," he said, avoiding eye contact with her.

"Aero I just don't know… that's why I'm so hesitant. You have to understand."

"Oh I do," Aero said, taking her hand gently, "And you have every right to be. But I was being honest when I said what I did and I also want to tell you so much more. Weiss, I don't… I can't see myself with anyone else. I just can't. Just like how you've worried about me with certain missions I'll always worry about you and your Hunts. But I'm willing to worry, I'm willing to stay up long into the night as long as you would come back to me. Please forgive me Weiss," Aero said, looking up at her, "Please."

Weiss stared into his golden eyes and saw genuine sincerity with every word he had said. Aero did I have a point: he would be worrying about her every time she left, knowing that it could be the last.

"You owe me a lot of phone calls."

"I'll call you every night when I'm next door," he said with a chuckle that she matched. She walked closer to him, causing Aero's eyes to go wide and his heart to stutter as she got closer.

"Just promise me you won't do this again and that you'll talk. To keep a calm head and to be safe. That you won't leave again," she whispered, Aero opened his legs so she could get in between them. He leaned his forehead against hers as she placed both her hands on his cheeks.

"I promise Weiss. I won't do this again, I care too much about you. I'm so sorry."

"Shhhh," she said, placing a finger on his lips and wiping away a tear, "It's okay."

Weiss leaned forward, her lips grazing Aero's. Aero leaned in and pressed his lips fully against hers. She pressed back, wrapping her arms around him, something he copied as they both closed their eyes. It was a kiss both had wanted so badly and were so happy to finally have with each other. They continued to kiss one another and deepened the kiss, enjoying the feeling of their lips on each other as Aero pulled her closer to him.

"Hey Aer- Whoops sorry," Sebastian said as he opened then swiftly shut the door, the two breaking the kiss and laughing at each other. Sebastian stood outside the door, eyes wide as Lila looked at him.

"What? Was he changing?"

"No, it's nothing."

"Sebastian, we want to go in," Lila said, motioning to all of their friends behind her.

"You can't."

"Don't make me… Wait… Weiss went in… Oh my god what are they doing?!" she said, trying to push by Sebastian who held her back.

"Stop it Lila! Jeez!" he said, pushing her back, everyone laughing at the two. Aero heard the commotion and relayed it to Weiss, whose cheeks went deep red.

"Oh God… I can't believe her," she said, shaking her head. Aero caressed her cheek and smiled at her.

"Hey, it's fine. I'll gladly announce it to them, how about that?"

"I'll announce it with you," she said with a big smile that Aero returned. She leaned in and kissed him again, both wanting to hold the kiss as long as possible, something Aero's weakened body and mind greatly enjoyed.

* * *

 **The assassin approached her from behind, kissed her neck and looked at her in the mirror, her own smile gracing her lips.**

 **"Hey beautiful."**

 **"Hello," she said quietly, kissing him on the lips before breaking off and looking at him with furrowed brows, "What is this I hear that you didn't get me anything on my birthday on purpose?"**

 **"How the hell did you hear that?!"**


	15. The Only Exception

**So, I'll warn now: THIS IS BASICALLY A FILLER CHAPTER. MAINLY CHARACTER/RELATIONSHIP DEVELOPMENT. I put that because I didn't want to disappoint anyone because I know a majority of stuff I write is action based. I wrote this chapter as an easy chapter for me to edit so I can focus solely on my papers, which is going on now. Also shout out to Paramore who is a good group and literally there song is why I wrote this whole chapter. Hopeless romantic here, sorry about that. About episode 2: that was really awesome. They set up plot points for the rest of the season, Winter is teased, I cant believe fucking Gavin is the voice of Scarlet, that just made me laugh. Qrow is gonna be a fun character but I do wish they had shown more of Sage. Oh, and Nora's semblance! So badass! Can't wait for the rest of the season! Hope you guys enjoy the chapter and I'll see you next Monday!**

* * *

Chapter 15

Three months had passed since the assault on the Guild's HQ. Teams JNPR, ABRN and CFVY, along with help from team RWBY, had taken down the White Fang and had put its leaders, including Adam Taurus, behind bars. Aero was fully recovered and enjoying some much needed downtime, in which he trained but also went on dates with Weiss almost every other day. The two had become nearly inseparable in the three months since the attack and had been enjoying being with each other, only being saddened when she had to go on a Hunt. Everyone was also enjoying the return to normalcy, with Lila and Sebastian looking at their own place to live as everyone else began to pack their things, waiting until after Weiss's birthday to head back to their homes.

"Living with Lila is going to be interesting. Not having you guys around is going to suck," Sebastian said as he looked at an apartment online.

"Yeah. Don't forget if she gets a boyfriend."

"Oh… as an asexual person, I am not excited for this whatsoever," Sebastian said, Aero chuckling and patting his back.

"So, the A-Team is breaking up."

"Never truly breaking up, just forging our own paths now."

"I like that," Aero said, hugging Sebastian, who returned it, "Thanks for everything man."

"Anytime Aero."

"So I have a favor to ask."

"I knew you had ulterior motives for being so sentimental."

"Oh shut up!" Aero said, Sebastian laughing, "How quickly can you learn a song?"

"Depends, why?"

"I need your guitar skills. I didn't get Weiss anything on purpose-"

"Oh why?"

"Because this is a much better gift. Here is the music sheet for the song," he said, taking a paper out of his pocket and handing it to Sebastian, who looked it over.

"I can learn this today, hell it's not too hard."

"Yes! Thanks man!" Aero said, hugging him again and leaving, walking to Weiss's room. He found the heiress brushing her long, snow white hair, staring at a mirror she sat in front of on a bench. The assassin approached her from behind, kissed her neck and looked at her in the mirror, a smile gracing her lips.

"Hey beautiful."

"Hello," she said quietly, kissing him on the lips before breaking off and looking at him with furrowed brows, "What is this I hear that you didn't get me anything on my birthday on purpose?"

"How the hell did you hear me?!"

* * *

The next day, Aero was pacing around the kitchen, nervous as the food cooked on the gleaming stove top. It was getting dark, meaning that Weiss would be returning from a high-end salon she took her teammates to for her birthday. Sun and Scarlet were out with Sage and Neptune while Lila and Sebastian had been training all day. Aero wore a buttoned up white shirt, black dress pants and matching shoes, along with shaving to add to his fresh look. Lila and Sebastian entered the kitchen talking and looked Aero over, laughing at him soon after.

"The hell are you guys laughing at!?" he barked.

"Dude, what in the hell?!" Lila asked, gripping a chair for stability, still laughing as Sebastian calmed himself down.

"What in the world are you wearing Aero?"

"What does it look like?"

"Okay, better question: why?"

"I wanna look good for her on her birthday."

"It's so adorable but also stupid," Lila said with a chuckle, Aero plunking her with an orange as a response. She laughed at the pain and shook her head, walking over to Aero and wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

"Aero, you don't have to do any of this. You won her heart by being the person you are, not trying to be fancy. I say ditch the shirt, throw on something casual and just enjoy the night. The food smells great and you got the cake. How nervous are you?"

"Oh you have no idea."

"Good, you'll do great then," she said, shoving Aero out the kitchen, "Go change!" Aero walked away, grumbling to himself as he ascended to the second floor and threw on a blue shirt and his white hoodie with the diagonal zipper, leaving it unzipped. He came back downstairs and was met with nods of approval from Lila and Sebastian, who was practicing on his guitar. As Aero added sauce to the chicken he had cooking Scarlet and Sun returned, walking into the kitchen.

"Holy shit that smells good," Sun said, sniffing the chicken and having his hand slapped away from the cake by Aero.

"Don't even."

"Yeah, I wouldn't try an assassin on the day of his girlfriend's birthday bro," Scarlet said, shaking his head and getting a nod of thanks from Aero that he gladly returned.

"Oh fine party-pooper," Sun said. The five stayed in the kitchen and talked about everything that was going on. Sun and Blake were going back to Vacuo soon, Scarlet and Ruby would return to Patch surprisingly without her half-sister.

"Wait why?" Sebastian asked, playing his guitar.

"Yang and Sage are dating," Scarlet said with a grin.

"Get the fuck out of here, really?" Lila said with a matching grin, "Oh I'm gonna grill her for not telling me."

"Oh I know and I'll help," Scarlet said, the two fist-bumping, "What about you and Weiss?"

"Good question. I don't mind living here but I think a smaller apartment in Atlas would be nice."

"True that."

"Oh, speaking of Lila, got a place for us in Mistral."

"Nice."

"Wait you guys are gonna live together?" Sun asked.

"Oh yeah," Sebastian said with a nod.

"You guys are dating?"

"No you idiot!" Lila said, smacking Sun upside the back of his head, everyone laughing as he glared at her, rubbing the back of his head and grumbling. Soon enough the front door to the manor opened again to multiple female voices laughing and chatting. The five waited until team RWBY walked into the kitchen, looking well pampered in their old uniforms and joyful as they embraced their friends and significant others.

"How was the salon?" Aero asked Weiss, keeping an arm around her waist.

"Loads of fun, see?" she said, showing off her nails and moving her head around, her off-kilter ponytail moving with it.

"Looking great. Lot of talking and gossip?"

"Always," she said with a smile, the two sharing a quick kiss.

"So what is this I hear you are dating Sage?" Lila asked Yang, who looked at her then at Sun and Scarlet.

"Oh I'm gonna kill you two," she said, everyone laughing as Aero plated the food and handed it to everyone who sat at the table.

"By the way, we have a Hunt tomorrow," Ruby said.

"Who's we?" Sebastian asked.

"The four of us," Blake said, Aero looking at Weiss.

"Seriously? The day after your birthday?"

"Sadly, but it's the job," she said with a shrug as she ate. Aero had been looking forward to spending tomorrow with Weiss, a day they both had off, but knew he would find a way to spend time more time with her eventually.

"That sucks."

"How come you guys haven't gotten called in for anything?" Lila asked the two male Hunters.

"Because they don't need us right now. The whole assigning Hunts thing is based on what they need a team or a specific Hunter for at the moment. Our teams are great overall, but sometimes they feel different touches are needed for different missions," Sun replied, wiping his mouth with a napkin.

"Kinda similar to the old Guild days," Sebastian said after swallowing, "Speaking of, Aero, we need to have a chat."

"Hm?"

"Danielle is the last master assassin and I have her location."

"Perfect."

"Why does it matter that she's the last?" Yang asked.

"With no more master assassins, it'll take forever to train the recruits. It also means no high-target, highly experienced guards for Varis. If you take her down-"

"We can go after Varis and end this fight," Aero said, nodding his head, "We'll focus on that later, we need to be happy and excited. It's Weiss's birthday!" he exclaimed, everyone cheering as Weiss shook her head with a smile on her face. Everyone finished eating, sang happy birthday to her as she blew out the candles on her cake and gave her gifts they had bought her. After looking at her new clothing, extra Dust holders and miscellaneous items, all eyes turned to Aero.

"So he didn't get me a gift," Weiss began with a grin, all the Huntress's looking at Aero with wide eyes.

"How in the fuck-"

"Don't start Yang," Aero said, holding his finger to her, "I did it for a reason. These eight months have been a whirlwind of a journey and I wouldn't have it any different. Well, okay, a lot of things different, but you get the point. I'm just so happy to have you guys as my friends and you as my girlfriend," he said, taking her hand in his and standing her up, "That a physical gift wouldn't be enough in my opinion. A physical gift wouldn't be able to convey my feelings for you. So, I found a song that does. Sebastian, would you mind?"

"Not at all mate," Sebastian said, grabbing his guitar and playing it. Aero waited a few seconds, holding Weiss's hands and staring into her eyes as he began to sing to her in a low voice.

 _When I was younger  
I saw my daddy cry  
And curse at the wind  
He broke his own heart  
And I watched  
As he tried to reassemble it_

 _And my momma swore  
That she would never let herself forget  
And that was the day that I promised  
I'd never sing of love  
If it does not exist, but darlin'_

 _You are, the only exception  
You are, the only exception  
You are, the only exception  
You are, the only exception_

"Bruh," Scarlet whispered in Sun's ear, everyone entranced by Aero's sweet act as Weiss looked at him with love and gratitude written on her face.

"I know… we are so fucked with Ruby and Blake's birthdays."

"Fucked isn't the word dude, we need to start planning and setting aside money, like, now."

 _Maybe I know, somewhere  
Deep in my soul  
That love never lasts  
And we've got to find other ways  
To make it alone  
But keep a straight face_

 _And I've always lived like this  
Keeping a comfortable, distance  
And up until now  
I had sworn to myself that I'm content  
With loneliness_

 _Because none of it was ever worth the risk_

 _But, you are, the only exception  
You are, the only exception  
You are, the only exception  
You are, the only exception_

Aero twirled Weiss around a few times as Sebastian played, moving around with her naturally, dancing with her until stopping then placing both of his hands ever so slightly on her cheeks, looking into her eyes.

 _I've got a tight grip on reality  
But I can't let go of what's in front of me here  
I know your leaving in the morning, when you wake up  
Leave me with some kind of proof it's not a dream, _

He smiled at her, her eyes filling with tears as he whispered the rest of the song to her.

 _You are, the only exception  
You are, the only exception  
You are, the only exception  
You are, the only exception_

Everyone clapped loudly and cheered as he planted a soft kiss on her lips, something she returned wholeheartedly and wrapped her arms around him.

"D'awwwwwwww," Lila said, everyone laughing at her and Aero, who gave her the bird as he kissed his girlfriend. Everyone left with pieces of cake, retiring to the living room to enjoy a night of fun. Later on in the evening, Weiss and Aero found themselves alone on the couch.

"Did you have a great birthday?"

"Of course," she said sleepily, her head resting on his shoulder.

"You need to get to bed."

"I know," she said with irritation, being helped up by Aero then shuffling along the floor. At the top of the steps, she stopped and turned to him.

"That was the sweetest and nicest thing anyone's ever done for me," she said with a sleepy but big smile on her lips that Aero matched.

"I thought you would like it."

"Did you mean every word?" she asked quietly as he stepped forward and enveloped her in his arms.

"I did and that is how I'll always feel about you Weiss," he said, kissing her cheeks then lips. She held the kiss for a few seconds before walking toward her room, Aero tailing her and smiling.

"Well, have a good night."

"Where are you going?"

"My room," Aero retorted.

"Don't you want to be with me?" Weiss asked, Aero's eyes going wide, his heart stuttering and his cheeks going red as his body locked up. Weiss chuckled at him and grabbed his arm.

"Come on," she whispered, pulling him into her room, not noticing that the door across from her room was slightly open.

"I swear if I hear anything."

"Shut up Sun."

"Yeah, you two have no room to talk," Sebastian said, peeking out his door at the two faunus', who glared at him, making him chuckle.

Weiss didn't let go of his arm as she fell onto her bed, Aero lying next to her.

"No changing?"

"To tired," she replied with closed eyes, rolling over and resting her head on his chest. Aero grabbed the plush covers, pulled them over the two of them then hugged her to himself, petting her hair as her breathing slowed. Aero couldn't help but smile at her, kissing the top of her forehead and closing his eyes before he himself drifted to sleep, happier than he's ever been.

* * *

"Do you really have to go?" he asked Weiss, who was putting her ponytail up.

"It's my job," she said with slight irritation. While she appreciated Aero's concern, she herself was getting a bit annoyed with his constant questions.

"I know, I'm sorry," Aero said. His eyes brightened and he left the room, confusing Weiss until he returned moments later with his white hoodie.

"Okay, I know you have that hoodie."

"I want you to wear it," Aero said with a smile to Weiss. She looked at the hoodie, which didn't really go with anything she had on, then back at her boyfriend.

"Why?"

"That way I'm with you… I know that sounds dumb-"

"I mean not really, a lot of couples do that with each other."

"Oh…" Aero said, suddenly lost for words, "Well…"

"It's okay, continue," she said with a smile.

"I just… I've never felt this way about anyone and I want it to feel like I'm there with you, protecting you. I know I'm being clingy-"

"Just a tad."

"But I can't help it. Please?" he said, holding the hoodie out to her. She looked down at it, to Aero then back at the hoodie, grabbing it and walking to her large walk-in closet. Aero waited and saw that she had changed her entire outfit, wearing dark blue leggings, matching heels and a white long-sleeve top that the hoodie, which was unzipped, covered.

"That looks amazing on you," Aero said, his eyes gleaming as she twirled around.

"Yeah?"

"Totally," he said. Weiss walked over to him, gave him a quick peck on the lips, grabbed her weapon and walked out. Aero watched her, heard her talking to the team then walking out with them a few minutes later. He stretched and walked out of her room to his waiting friends.

"Let's cripple the Guild," Sebastian said, walking away with his fellow assassins in tow.

* * *

 **"I'm gonna get ready for bed right quick, okay?" he asked her. She nodded and let him go, allowing him to turn around. Suddenly, Aero felt a hand on his arm pull him around and she lunged at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist, pressing her lips to his fiercely. Aero held her, shocked at what was happening but not caring a moment later as her tongue pushed into his mouth. Their tongues locked with one another until Aero pulled back, blushing heavily, looking down with confusion as his hurt leg started to get a little bit weak under the pressure.**

 **"Okay, I'm-"**

 **"Shush," she said, kissing him again, this time slower and gentler. He moved them to her bed, where he slowly leaned forward, allowing her to lay on the bed as he broke the kiss and looked down at her.**


	16. Death and Love

**Sadly no RWBY but that Extra Life was awesome! Of course, I missed a good chunk because of work... and I couldn't donate because I'm poor... fucking hate life. ANYWAY: Forewarning on this one, it has sex in it, which is the first time I've ever written such a scene. Apparently, according to my friends and fiancee, I did a good job though, so take that however you will. Anyway, hope you guys have an amazing week as always and next week is the finale of Renegade! Next week is when I'll detail everything about Uprising and what not, so stay tuned! Hope you guys enjoy and I'll see you next week!**

* * *

Chapter 16

"Are they back from their mission yet?"

"Aero, you asked me that five minutes ago," he heard in his headset.

"I know."

"It's still no dude," Lila said into the speaker of her Scroll, shaking her head, standing in the safety of the manor's kitchen as Aero looked at a map of the area Danielle was in.

"The hell is she doing here?" Aero asked, popping a vent cover off the roof the building he was on and slipping inside.

"Supplies. The Guild has run out and are on the run. From what I hear no one is willing to join because word has spread of their ongoing fall. Nice going Aero," Sebastian said from a vehicle not far away.

"Didn't think people would stop joining," Aero said, kicking out another vent cover after crawling in the vents for a few minutes. He slid out and landed on top of a large stack of food, looking at the aisle full of food. He had snuck into a supermarket in Vale, one of the few that closed at night, and was now on the prowl for the last master assassin. He closed his eyes and clicked his tongue, looking around, trying to spot where Danielle could be. He continued to click his tongue until he got the faint outline of someone looking at steaks in a refrigerator before moving on. He jumped down and moved forward, pulling out his short blades and having them at the ready.

"They just got back in. All good. Weiss is curious as to how you are," Lila said.

"I'm fine, tell her I hope-"

"I'm not your messenger, you tell her yourself when you guys get back. Good luck," she said, hanging up. Sebastian moved his Scroll from a headset, grumbling to himself as he focused on the situation at hand.

"You have a location?"

"I think so. Remind me to kill Lila when we get back," Aero said quietly. He put one of his short blades away, drew a pistol and rounded the corner. Danielle was pressed against a wall of drinks, clad in all black. Her hair was covered by a hood that showed her light blue eyes and two new weapons were secured to her hips: chakrams.

"Hello Danielle," Aero said.

"Aero."

"Those are new," he said, motioning with his short pistol to her chakrams.

"Yeah, been getting a lot of practice in eight months… I wonder why?"

"I wonder too. Look, it doesn't have to happen like this. Be like Eli-"

"Oh that traitor? Hell no. I'd rather die than see you and let you live like what that bastard did. You've ruined the Guild Aero. We're finished. And I shall get revenge for my fallen family," she said, her voice growling as her hands moved to her hips. Aero watched her, his finger on the trigger of his pistol.

"I'm not like the others. I won't go down so easily."

"Yeah, I know. You're young like me. Two young guns going at one another, last man standing."

"So be a man and lose the pistol," she said through gritted teeth. Aero grinned at the irony as she herself was caring a compact assault rifle and a pistol with an extended barrel. Aero slowly holstered his pistol and pulled out his second short blade, allowing her to pull out her chakrams. They were simple yet deadly: two half circles, the curved steel glistening in the darkness, curved so she could get a better grip and move them around easier. The two stared at one another, waiting until Aero launched himself forward, Danielle bringing her chakrams up to block the strike.

Aero launched a flurry of strikes, using his speed to try and gain an advantage but was met with the reflexes of a newly minted master assassin. They exchanged blows until Aero kicked her into a rack of clothes, knocking it and her over. He moved to her but was met with a boot to his chest, launching him back into large bags of animal food. Aero groaned, rubbing the back of his head and watched Danielle roll from the clothes and get up. He himself got up and had a stare down with her, the two regaining their composure quickly. Danielle whipped her pistol out and got a few shots off, the larger caliber bullets leaving craters in the bags and shelving as Aero ran to avoid the shots. While sliding under a table, he turned and got a few shots to try and stop her advance. He moved to the front of the store and looked around in the darkness for her, clicking his tongue and spotting her trying to sneak up on him.

Aero turned in time to catch one of her chakrams with his blade, the two exchanging blows until Danielle caught him off guard with a parry and knocked him onto a conveyor attached to a cash register. He slid himself off as she leapt onto it, running away from her and down various aisles to lose her.

"Oh! The great and mighty Aero runs! The destroyer of the Guild is running with a tail between his legs like the faunus he is!" she yelled, a cocky grin on her face. Aero heard her comment, his rage building at it until he looked left and grinned at the items he saw. As she looked for him, he grabbed items from the aisle he was in and prepared a trap as she flipped the lights on. Finally, after a few tense minutes, he moved to the end of the aisle and knocked over a bag of chips on purpose.

"There you are!" he heard her yell as she ran to the source of the sound. He waited at the end of the aisle, heard her footsteps and timed it so as she rounded the corner she was met with a large bag of flour and tripped on round candies he had spread on the floor. Danielle was on her back and dazed, the room spinning, her vision clouded by the hit and the flour that hung in the air. She coughed heavily, the cooking ingredient mixing in her lungs as she stood up.

"They made you a master assassin too soon," she heard Aero say, "You're not ready to be one and I doubt you ever would've been one."

"Why you piece of shit!" she yelled, clamoring to the top of the shelving and looking around, spotting Aero leaning against glass door freezers and staring at her. She moved with fury, closing the distance between them, her chakrams ready. All of a sudden Aero threw three small black orbs, which exploded in the air in front of her, the smoke pellets blinding her. She impacted one of the glass doors hard, further increasing the pain in her head as she laid on the ground. She groaned and got up slowly, blood escaping her now broken nose, the smoke from the pellets nearly blinding her.

"So you wanna hide like a little bitch?!"

"No, like a true assassin," she heard behind her. She swung wildly, feeling a hand around her arm and another hand grip her hair through her hood. He wrenched her back then throttled her forward with all his might, sending her head through a glass freezer door. Danielle groaned, pulling herself out, her face now showing multiple lacerations. Aero grabbed her and sent her whole frame through another glass door, her body slumping next to frozen bags of food as she looked at more frozen food from an upside down perspective. He grabbed her head again and pulled her out, this time throwing her a few feet away onto the hard floor. Her face was encased in a crimson mask, was missing a tooth and looked up at Aero in a haze as he walked to her.

"You're a lot like me, letting your emotions get the best of you. Now I see what would've happened if I would've kept going on my own. I would've died."

"I'm… n-not dying… you… c-can't k-kill…"

"Oh I can, but I may let you go back to Varis, you being the example of what I'll do to him," Aero said, turning and walking away from her. She snarled, rolled over and un-holstered her rifle. Aero heard her cock the gun and sprinted down the aisle, quickly turning as bullets flew by him. He grimaced slightly at the pain from two bullets grazing his leg but finally had her where he wanted her: hurt, dazed and enraged. He knew that she was going to die by his blade.

Danielle regrouped herself and stood up on shaky legs, stumbling forward, leaving little droplets of blood behind her. She wiped her face with her hand and noticed that her hand was completely covered with blood. She winced at it, realizing how badly she was losing the fight. She calmed herself down, letting her training come back to her until the lights went out again. Her eyes went wide, fear and panic slowly creeping into her head as she turned on a dime every few feet, checking everywhere for her target, a flashlight attached to the rifle cutting through the darkness.

"That's the difference with you and me Danielle. I have experience and know how to calm myself before things get to bad. You… well, you won't have any experience after tonight."

"Come and get me Aero," she said under her breath, looking down an aisle.

"Gladly," she heard behind her and before she could react she felt two sharp pains in her lungs. She coughed and tried to take in air but couldn't as her lungs collapsed and filled with blood. She felt two objects recede from her back, turning in time to see Aero's face as she fell to the ground. He knelt next to her and brought his hidden blade down into her heart.

"Goodbye Danielle," Aero said, watching as she tried to take in air but couldn't, blood streaming down the sides of her mouth until at last her chest stopped moving. Aero closed her eyes and shook his head.

"The last master is dead Sebastian. I'm gonna take a few days then we'll get Varis hopefully. I just want to go home."

"Don't blame you one bit Aero."

* * *

The two returned to the manor, their drive being hampered by a storm that was lingering over a majority of the kingdom.

"What in the hell?" Sebastian asked, looking at the doorway through the rain. It was two AM and the two of them spotted someone standing in the doorway.

"Who is that?" Sebastian said, quickly parking then grinning at Aero, "Oh, it's your girlfriend."

"Wait how do you know?" Aero said, leaning over then spotting his hoodie on her, "Ah."

"Mm. Have fun," Sebastian said, patting Aero's shoulder then getting out and walking past Weiss, saying good night to her. Aero got out and walked over to the heiress with a slight limp, his hair dripping water as he kissed her on the forehead.

"Sorry if I get any water on you."

"It's fine, you okay?" she asked, hooking her arm around his.

"Just a couple of scraps and grazes."

"Wow, thought you would've come back in worse shape."

"She let her emotions and rage get the best of her and she forgot her training, simple as that," he said as she escorted him to her room.

"At least she's taken care of. I'm just glad you're okay," she said with a big smile he returned, the two sharing a kiss in her room.

"Thanks. I'm gonna get ready for bed right quick, okay?" he asked her. She nodded and let him go. As he turned around, he suddenly felt a hand on his arm pull him back around and she lunged at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist, pressing her lips to his fiercely. Aero held her, shocked at what was happening but not caring a moment later as her tongue pushed into his mouth. Their tongues locked with one another until Aero pulled back, blushing heavily, looking down with confusion as his hurt leg started to get a little bit weak under the pressure.

"Okay, I'm-"

"Shush," she said, kissing him again, this time slower and gentler. He moved them to her bed, where he slowly leaned forward, allowing her to lay on the bed as he broke the kiss and looked down at her.

"So, killing assassins is a turn on?" he said with a chuckling grin, receiving a punch to his arm for his remark.

"No, I'm just really happy you're alive you dolt. You've been worse in the past."

"True."

"I just want you right now," she whispered, Aero's cheeks going deep red.

"Really? Damn, I uh, I'll be honest, didn't expect that," he said, a giggle escaping her lips as she kissed him again.

"I just-"

"I love you," Aero said, cutting her off. She looked at him with surprise then with a slow smile that only grew bigger.

"I love you too Aero," she said, the two sharing a passionate kiss. Aero swiftly broke the kiss and attacked her neck. She moaned into his ear as he continued to bite her neck and drag his tongue around it slowly. He stopped and shared a sultry gaze with her, the two sharing the same look: a look of hunger and excitement. They locked lips again, their tongues playing around each other as Aero moved his hands all over her body, stripping her of his hoodie and putting his hands under the back of her shirt. She tugged on his shirt, something Aero felt and helped her take it off, her hands flowing over his chest as he moved down her neck to her collarbone then stopping.

"Since you're so rude, may I?" he asked, pulling up her shirt slowly. She rolled her eyes and nodded her head. Aero pulled her shirt up and over her head, moving it past her off-kilter ponytail, revealing pale skin and a white bra that covered her small breasts. Aero's lips moved down, kissing every inch of her chest until kissing her breasts through her bra. She bit her lip in anticipation as he unhooked her bra, pulled it off with her help and licked her perked nipples. She let out a low moan that Aero couldn't help but grin at as he continued to pleasure her.

"W-what?" she asked, her eyes wavering as waves of pleasure rolled through her body.

"You have some amazingly sexy moans, I could get used to hearing them," Aero responded as he continued, moving a hand down to her waist then slowly over her leggings. Her eyes went wide as his fingertips grazed over her crotch and pressed against her, her moans becoming louder as he rubbed her sex through her leggings. Aero's grin grew wider as he rubbed faster, Weiss trying to control her tone as she began to pant until somehow pushing Aero off her. He looked at her in surprise as she took her leggings off and ripped his pants off, leaving them in only their briefs. She shivered, grabbed the covers and pulled them over the two of them as she laid on top of him.

"I didn't know you could shove me off."

"I d-didn't know either," she responded as Aero moved a hand over her butt and squeezed while grinding against her. Both let out low moans and kissed each other again to try and cover the sounds they were making. Aero put his thumbs through the sides of her panties and pulled them down, an act she copied with his boxers, his length popping out and resting against her stomach. She cupped his face with her hands and kissed him lovingly. He held the kiss with her, wrapping his arms around her until he broke the kiss.

"Uh… question."

"Yeah?"

"I'll be honest, I'm a tad bit nervous."

"Aero… is this…?"

"My first time? Yeah. Hell, you're my first girlfriend. You?" he asked, her cheeks going deep red as she looked down.

"N-no… me and-" she began until Aero cut her off with a kiss of his own then leaning his head back.

"It's okay Weiss, don't be embarrassed. You thought he was the one. Trust me, I'll be the one," he said with a smile and a wink. Weiss looked at him with a bit of surprise in her ice blue eyes then returned the smile, leaning down and locking lips again then pulling back.

"W-wait… I'm your first girlfriend?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Nothing… I don't know, I just really like that I'm your first girlfriend, sounds nice," she said, Aero chuckling as he suddenly pulled her into a heated kiss. He rubbed her lower back, grabbed his member and rubbed the head against her folds. It elicited loud moans from both of them until he pushed into her, their moans becoming louder. He moved inside her slowly, holding her close to him as he bit her neck, her panting and moans echoing loudly in his bat ears.

"Oooohhh fuck Aero," she said, both trying to control their voices as he kept thrusting into her, his thrusts getting faster and harder.

"Fuck Weiss!" he yelled a little too loudly, Weiss immediately cupping his mouth. She looked irritated then grinned as she moved herself up and down his shaft, riding him. Aero moaned into her hand, his eyes fluttering as she rode him faster and harder. He moved his hands up her body and cupped her breasts, squeezing them, eliciting silent moans from her as he grazed her nipples with his thumbs. They continued like this for ten minutes until Aero abruptly shifted his weight over, winding up on top of her. Weiss squealed in surprise as he quickly grabbed her legs, put them on his shoulders and grabbed her hips so he could drive deeper into her. She let out a quiet scream as Aero put a hand over her mouth, her eyes going wide then relaxing as he continued to thrust inside her.

"Fuck b-baby," Aero said, moving her legs off his shoulders and around his waist, allowing him to lay on top of her. She wrapped her arms around him tightly, her well-manicured nails digging into his back as he continued. They held a long kiss, their tongues dancing around each other until Aero broke the kiss and closed his eyes.

"W-Weiss… I'm close…"

"Cum inside m-me A-Aero. G-go ahead," she said, biting his neck and dragging her nails down his back.

"Weiss!" he yelled, releasing inside her.

"Oh God A-Aero!" she yelled back as she came herself, feeling Aero's seed inside her. They both panted heavily until Aero slouched forward and laid his head face first in a pillow that her head was resting on. She giggled weakly and kissed his cheek as he slid himself out of her and pulled her to him, their sweaty bodies rubbing against each other.

"I love you Weiss."

"I love you too Aero."

"I love you so much…" he said, looking into her icy eyes, "I really do. I can't be with anyone else. You're too perfect to me. I love you so much."

Weiss couldn't help but smile at his kind words and gently pressed her lips to his.

"I love you just as much Aero, I do. I don't want to be without you," she said, caressing his cheek with her hand.

"Look at us all lovey-dovey," he said, eliciting soft laughter from the two of them until she looked at him in horror.

"Aero."

"Yeah?"

"Were we really loud at the end?"

"… Ah shit."

* * *

 **He heard the knocking himself and looked confused at the door.**

 **"Who wishes to disturb us?!" he bellowed. The knocking stopped and for a minute the entire room tensed up, waiting for something to happen. As Varis began to turn an explosion ripped through the front, shocking everyone inside, who opened fire at the large hole created. After a steady stream of fire for a few seconds, everyone stopped to reload, stopping when they heard a loud thump. Everyone looked at the hole and saw in the smoke and kicked up sand a figure making its way toward them slowly. Varis's face quickly became a scowl as the figure emerged.**

 **"Aero."**

 **"Hello Varis," Aero Kalo said in a cool tone, his pistols in his hands, "How've you been?"**


	17. Redemption

**Hey guys, so Chapter 3 was pretty kickass but I want to take a moment and say that my heart goes out to those affected by the Paris terrorist attacks and everyone affected on the horrible Friday, from Beirut to Lebanon. I pray for everyone's safety and for those that have lost their lives: they will be truly missed and they will be forever remembered. Thank you.**

* * *

Chapter 17

Varis stood alone in a single bedroom, looking out at the vast flatlands of Vacuo. His Guild was in shambles, with only 23 assassins and 50 security guards, of which half were mercenaries he was forced to hire. He put his hands behind his back, trying to control the shaking as anger rushed through his body. Nearly a year ago he was ready to write off another assassin who had failed him dearly, such as Nico. Yet here he was, in the last bastion for the Guild, a small 5-story office building on the outskirts of the kingdom where no one could intervene or question them because no one knew they were there. Five days ago the last master assassin was killed, leaving them with no true master assassins to help in the fight. He sighed to himself, shaking his head as he heard a knock on the door.

"It's open," he said aloud. One of his assistants entered and walked up to him, a Scroll in his hands.

"Grandmaster Varis, here is the video you requested of the assassin's training."

"Thank you, dismissed," Varis said, taking the Scroll and waving the assistant away, who left after bowing his head. Varis watched the video, taking in how the last, surviving members reacted and trained. He noticed their nerves being shot, some struggling to do even basic movements.

"Damn Aero Kalo to hell. Him and his friends," he said to himself. In the back of his mind, Varis knew he should've killed Aero when he didn't complete his mission at the concert. But, something in Varis told him that maybe, just maybe, Aero could've become the next Grandmaster. Now, he was probably planning an attack, something Varis knew would happen eventually. All of this worrying and waging a war with one of the best assassins had aged him considerably, his cheeks and eyes showing more wrinkles and his hair looking nearly bleach white, clashing with his golden robe and matching sheath that hung at his hip. He threw the Scroll on his modest bed and turned back to the window only for rapid knocking to interrupt his train of thought.

"It's open."

"Sir!" the assistant from earlier exclaimed, running up to the grandmaster, "The door! Someone's…. knocking on it."

"Knocking?" Varis asked in confusion, walking with assistant to the main lobby. The main door that they used had three electric locks, so there was no need to knock on it. Varis walked down from his fifth floor room to the spacious lobby, which showed the age of the building. The chipped concrete went well with the sand-worn walls, the constant low wind's hollowing always heard. The lobby itself was nearly 100 hundred feet long and wide, with a desk across from the doors flanked by two stairs leading up to the rest of the building. The front of the building had been reinforced with steel to not only protect them from their harsh new environment but to make sure no one could spy on them. Varis made his way to the top of the steps leading to the lobby and stopped, holding his hands up to the mercenaries and assassins who had their weapons drawn. He heard the knocking himself and looked confused at the door.

"Who wishes to disturb us?!" he bellowed. The knocking stopped and for a minute the entire room tensed up, waiting for something to happen. As Varis began to turn an explosion ripped through the front, shocking everyone inside, who opened fire at the large hole created. After a steady stream of fire for a few seconds, everyone stopped to reload, stopping when they heard two weapons loaded and cocked loudly. Everyone looked at the hole and saw in the smoke and kicked up sand a figure making its way toward them slowly. Varis's face quickly became a scowl as the figure emerged.

"Aero."

"Hello Varis," he said in a cool tone, his pistols in his hands, "How've you been?"

"Don't toy with me Kalo! You think it's a good idea to just come here and try to take my life?!"

"Well, not just me. See, I still have my friends. And I've taught them a few things. For example, this is an entrance a Hunter would make. Now, let me pose a question to you Varis: what kind of entrance would a master assassin make?"

Aero grinned at his own question, Varis looking at him with confusion until he fully realized what he meant but it was too late. A figure dropped down, two blades driving into two necks as another brought a sword onto one's back. Multiple smoke pellets exploded as more figures descended from the ceiling, landing on one or two guards and knocking them out with various weapons. Aero held his pistols up and started shooting at all of the guards, hitting a few as he ran to cover. He slid over to a wall, braced against it and heard the panic and terror as his friends descended on the unsuspecting assassins.

He rounded the corner and walked up the steps, getting shots off as Sebastian cut down a guard while Lila shot two near Sebastian. Yang had one in a chokehold and Blake was whipping her pistol body around, landing blows with her cleaver and sword as Sun whacked a few guards. Ruby and Scarlet were fighting back to back, fending off attackers easily. Aero made his way to Weiss, who ducked a blow from a guard and stomped on another's ankle, breaking it. Aero took the man who missed and snapped his neck as the one with the broken ankle hollered in pain.

"Damn, not too shabby baby."

"Not too shabby?" she asked with a cocked eyebrow. Aero smiled and shook his head, drawing his sword to parry a blow and drive the blade into the man's gut. More of them had surrendered and as the smoke dissipated, Aero looked around and spotted Varis running upstairs.

"He's mine," he growled, taking off before anyone could stop him. Varis made his way to the fifth floor, breathing heavily, his hands on his knees as he caught his breath. He heard the footsteps behind him and turned in time with his sword, blocking Aero's strike and punching the master assassin.

"You really think you can kill me?" he said as Aero rubbed his jaw and twirled his sword in his hands. The two stared at each other, encircling the other until Aero dashed in, his move parried but nailed a hit to Varis's chest with a punch. Varis stumbled back, hitting the railing as Aero moved in, sheathing his sword. Varis swung wildly but his punch was caught, allowing Aero to trip the grandmaster and slam him hard on his back. Varis rolled and knocked Aero down, who kicked at him before quickly getting up. Varis lunged at Aero, who had drawn a pistol, and tackled him to the ground, both wrestling for the gun in his hand. Aero engaged one of his blades and stabbed Varis in the shoulder, the grandmaster yelling in pain as Aero hit him in the head with the stock of the pistol and pushed Varis off. He got up, cocked the gun and aimed it at Varis, who held his hands up, his stern face and voice never faltering as he looked at Aero.

"So, this is how you want to end it? A simple bullet?" Varis asked. Aero looked at his pistol and holstered it.

"Yeah, good point, should try and draw it out, give you a few more seconds."

"You're a fool for killing me."

"Is that so Varis?"

"It is Aero. You will doom humanity. How will it function without us?"

"Well, it did pretty well before the Guild."

"And that led to war!"

"And?! That's how life is! You talk about how humanity will not function without us! That's the problem! It never should've gotten to that point!"

"But we had too! Humanity… it can't be trusted. Look at what humans did to your kind."

"And look at what's happening with the relations between humans and faunus'. It's gotten much better in the past couple of years."

"And how long will that last?"

"Hopefully a good long while Varis. You are no longer needed. Humanity can and will function without you or the Guild. No more trying to get our legislatures passed, no more trying to influence people. It ends," Aero said, moving forward, expecting Varis to make a move and he did. Varis attacked with a blade aimed at his knee but was caught and his head was slammed hard into the ground. Varis tried to attack Aero again, who grabbed the grandmasters wrist and twisted it slowly, feeling the bone twist as the grandmaster yelled. Aero kept twisting until suddenly grabbing his opponents head and slamming it into the ground again. Varis' vision blurred, barely making out Aero, who slammed his head twice more into the ground, blood escaping from a laceration that had formed from the hammering. As Varis' vision slowly realigned, Aero grabbed the grandmaster's cheeks and held his head still.

"Goodbye Varis," he snarled, the grandmaster's eyes going wide, his head shaking and his body struggling against the assassin as Aero slid his hidden blade into his enemy's heart. Varis held a gaze with Aero, who let go of his face and thrust his other hidden blade into Varis' neck then removing the blade. Varis convulsed, blood spilling from his mouth, chest and neck until he finally stopped moving. Aero stood and went back downstairs to everyone, looking at him with relief.

"It's finally over," he said, Weiss running into his arms as the two shared a sweet moment, savoring the end of the long fight.

* * *

"AERO! Come on!" Weiss yelled out to her boyfriend. A year had passed since they had ended the fight with the Guild and everyone was as happy as could be. Ruby and Scarlet had gotten married, Blake and Sun were expecting a child while Yang and Sage had just moved in together. Aero and Weiss had settled into a large, high-rise apartment in the middle of the business center in Atlas.

"I'm coming!" he yelled back to her as he finished pulling a boot on. He walked out into their spacious living room and couldn't help but admire Weiss, who was wearing a white strapless dress that went to her knees, her hair flowing behind her in her off-center ponytail. She had just enough light blue make up around her eyes and her lips to add pop to her pale skin.

"Hi beautiful," he said with a grin that made her roll her eyes as she smiled at the compliment. He was wearing a white suit jacket, dark blue shirt and matching slacks with black boots. While his wardrobe hadn't changed, he did add one thing to his jackets and shirts: a large snowflake on the back, the crest of the Schnee family. His hair had remained short and he was clean shaven, his golden eyes staring at her as he walked over to her, leaned down and kissed her lips softly.

"Hello handsome. Ready to go?" she asked as they stood in the white living room with black furnishings, the color pallet copied throughout their apartment. Their entire apartment was large but intimate, giving the couple enough room to move around and plenty of large and small furnishing while also giving them the privacy they had wanted for a long while.

"I am… oh, wait," he said, turning back to their room.

"Oh hell Aero we are going to be late!" she yelled after him.

"Whoa, mouth sweetie. Besides, we're never late," he said behind him, infuriating her more as he opened a drawer on the nightstand. He moved around shirts and pants until he unearthed what he was looking for. He grabbed a small black box and opened it,revealing a silver band with three large diamonds in the center, with his initials inscribed on the inside. He closed the box, stuffed it into his inside jacket pocket and walked back to her.

"I don't want to be late for dinner with our friends."

"We won't," he said in a sincere tone, cupping her face and kissing her lips softly, "Let's go," he said with a big smile that confused her, not knowing of the surprise he had in store for her.

* * *

 **And another story is done, but this one will continue on soon. So, I know I talked about putting out a new chapter a day when I get to Uprising, and I want to because a lot of you guys have read my stuff for awhile now and I want to do that as a thank you. Here's the problem: I have my thesis paper, revised short story and a new short story along with my exams in the next month. So, the plan is this: I'm gonna take care of those and finish Uprising (still on 8 sadly). After my exams and what not, which officially end on December 12, I will post a chapter a day starting on the 13. So, in about a month, we will get to the end of Aero's journey. I really hope you guys have enjoyed the ride so far and again please keep not only Parisians but also Japanese and Syrians in your minds and prayers as all have faced tragedy since Friday. Again, I hope you guys have enjoyed it, send me any comments or thoughts on the story if you wish and I'll see you guys in a month. Until then stay safe and thank you for taking time out of your day to read this, it is greatly appreciated. And big thanks for being patient as I try to get my life back in order.**

 **Sincerely,**

 **Zach Piggott**


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